The two of us are (post) high school sweethearts! Yes, between 2011-2013, we both attended the same high school; however, never dated each other until years later.. actually, we may have never spoken to each other; yet, both of our passion for music created a runway for us to take flight on. Jackie, having a choir class and I, Marcel, in a symphonic band class by the same teacher created mutual friends. We would cross each other’s paths multiple times, but hadn’t entered into each other’s worlds until the two of us graduated. I decided to reach out to Jackie after noticing her around and from there, we started building our friendship. I then took a vacation to Hawaii in 2019, but all I could think about was her. I knew I wanted to pursue her which, in fact, was what I did. It started with a few friendly “no's” from Jackie, but with patience and the Lord speaking to both of us, she eventually agreed to share her time with me. A gym date here, an ice cream date there, long hours worth of conversations, burgers, stargazing, a concert in the city, and watching the sunset together …we were ready for take off in love!

Our story came full circle when Jackie and I had the opportunity to visit Hawaii with her family. It was Jackie’s first time on the Islands, and being the same place where I was in 2019 when I knew I wanted to pursue Jackie, I made sure that her first time in the Aloha State would be one she would never forget. After a nice relaxing couples message, everyone headed towards Waikiki Beach to enjoy the rest of the evening. I had been waiting for the right opportunity to ask for Jackie’s hand in marriage all throughout the day; the sun was ready to set and I knew the time had arrived. Taken by the beauty of the view, Jackie captures the sun’s final moments of the day on her phone. Jackie’s sisters record the sunset while standing behind Jackie, with me in front of them beginning to go down on one knee. To their surprise they begin to focus their camera’s towards the future newly weds. Everyone waited until Jackie finished recording the sunset before turning around towards me. She had us waiting so long, the sun was about to rise! Once she finally did turn around, she broke down in tears. Jackie and I embraced each other as she accepted a new life with me in marriage. Jackie’s sisters, our friend, and all the people on the beach graciously cheered and celebrated our love and the direction in which it was heading in.