The beginning of our love story started when a boy from Buffalo, NY and a girl from Seekonk, MA, met on a Caribbean Cruise July 4th week in 2015. Kenny was celebrating his high school graduation with his cousin's family and I was on vacation with my family.
This is our crew from the teen lounge on the ship on our first day at sea. Our group spent every evening together and we all became great friends. After the cruise was over and we went back home to our respective states, Kenny and I continued our friendship through FaceTime and quickly fell in love. Little did we know that when we sat for that picture, our lives would change forever because we were sitting next to our soulmate.
Over the next 5 months our friendship grew as we talked for hours every day on video chat. It wasn't long before we realized we loved each other and wanted to be together despite the hardships that come with a long-distance relationship. We knew we had to be together and our first post-cruise visit came in December 2015 when Kenny flew from Buffalo to visit me here in Seekonk during New Years Eve. It was an amazing week which ended with Kenny asking me to be his girlfriend right before midnight on New Year's Eve. Obviously, I said yes. ♥️
In 2016, Kenny joined my family and I in Miami for a New Year's Caribbean cruise, which just so happened to fall on our 1 year anniversary as a couple.
We always had to travel in order to see each other, so why not meet in Florida while I competed in the 2017 Cheerleading World Championships in Disney World.
During one of my many trips to Buffalo, Kenny thought it would be funny to try and throw me into the Falls. I survived Kenny's antics and was lucky to be able to walk over the Rainbow Bridge, which is a bridge that links the US to Canada. At the exact center of the bridge, we held hands as we do pretty much every minute. The extraordinary thing is that one of us was standing in the US and one of us was standing in Canada as we stood next to each other.
During the summer of 2018, Kenny joined the Air Force to serve our great country and after his training was complete, he was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska. It had become a little more difficult to see each other due to the distance, but it didn't stop us.
Kenny knew how much Allstar Cheerleading meant to me and he knew that the 2018/2019 season was my last year eligible to compete so he flew from Anchorage to support me. I knew he was my good luck charm because I won my first (and last) All-star World Championship with my team.
Kenny had flown home to Buffalo for his sister Kennedy's high school graduation party and my mom and I drove up to buffalo to celebrate with them. Towards the end of the long weekend, on August 5th 2019, Kenny took me to Canal-side, near Niagara Falls, which was a very special place to us. During my first visit to Buffalo many years before, we walked the same beautiful paths I found myself on this special day. To my surprise, right in the middle of our walk, Kenny got down on one knee and popped the question... and I said Yes!
We have to find creative ways to see each other since we live on opposite sides of the country. In April 2020, Kenny was assigned to a TDI in Arkansas during the height of COVID-19. I took advantage of the fact that he was in the continental US and put on as much PPE as I could find and flew to go see him for about three weeks. Although just about everything was shut down due to COVID-19, I got to spend quality time with Hubby ♥️
In October 2020, Kenny flew home to Buffalo and for the first time, I drove 7 and a half hours to Buffalo to see him and his family. I had always flown before t, but I didn't want to risk exposing any of us to COVID-19 by getting on an airplane. We are in the middle of an apple orchard enjoying our time together.
February 2021: My first trip to Alaska. With COVID-19 limiting Kenny's travel, I thought it was high time for me to make the trip to this beautiful state and spend time with my love. It is such a long trip (about 12 hours) but so worth it. Kenny surprised me with a beautiful dinner in an igloo.