Isaiah and I met on September 11, 2021 at the Pueblo Motorsports Park Drag Strip. We were set up on a surprise blind date.

On December 17th 2023 Isaiah got down on one knee under the big gazebo by the pond at the Riverwalk, downtown Pueblo, Colorado. The sun had just started its descent in the sky, and it was placed directly to the right of us shining on what felt like only the two of us. He held out the ring as he knelt on one knee. And in between my yelling, and cries as every emotion I have ever felt in our entire relationship came crashing through me, he uttered the words “So, you want a ring or what?”

This was a moment we had laughed and talked about more times than we could count in the years of our relationship up to this point. The saying stems from a story, Kevin and Devona Walter’s story to be precise. The Walters have been close family friends of the Suazo’s since their second born Kenny, became close friends with my brother Noah at Franklin Elementary. From then on our families were intertwined. There was a best friend for everyone in my family, Noah, my parents, me, and even my Nana Hot who enjoyed weekly calls and a close friendship with their grandmother, Norma Jean Walter. Throughout my relationship with Isaiah, we listened to what felt like every single engagement story, from every couple that was willing to share. However, none compared to Kevin and Devona’s story in which, in the car after a simple and seemingly unromantic dinner in which they discussed the possibility of Devona going away to college, Kevin looked at Devona and said plainly, “So, you want a ring or what?”. Why on Earth Devona said yes to such a ridiculous proposal is even beyond her. However, their love for each other and the immense sense of humor they share together makes it all very clear why their love has stood the test of time. It’s a story I never have gotten sick of hearing over and over (Heaven knows I likely started asking them to tell me that story when I was very young). Thankfully, the story struck the same chord with Isaiah. Since the first time he let me tell him that story, and every time he heard it after that, it became something he would quote to me every chance he got. We talked about marriage and a life together from the very start. Which is why it would flow off his tongue in the most comedic of times, “So, you want a ring or what?”, it never got old, and each time I would laugh in a way only he could make me laugh. Where it felt like all the joy in the world was beaming from my smile. So, truthfully, hearing those words as he proposed to me, for real this time, was the most romantic and intimate thing he could have ever done.

The proposal was something he had spent weeks planning, from hiring a photographer to getting the ring and asking my father for my hand in marriage. The ring was a gift from my maternal Grandmother Lucy. Isaiah had gotten the ring from her a month in advance and was somehow able to convince her and my Grandfather Levi to keep it a secret, not only from me but from the entire family. When he finally proposed, she couldn’t have been more relieved as she exclaimed out about how much she hates keeping secrets. Their involvement made it even more meaningful than I could have ever imagined. Both of our families were completely elated by the news, even though I was the only one who didn’t know it was coming. Isaiah's parents, Terry and Sandra, had kept the ring in their family safe leading up to the big moment. Though I must add, they were perhaps a bit too committed to trying to keep me off the scent that an engagement was coming by adding to Isaiah’s assurance he wasn’t ready for marriage (thanks a lot guys!). That evening, after Isaiah and I had dinner with my family, we were greeted with nothing but love and excitement from his family. Terry and Sandra presented Isaiah and me with a custom Christmas ornament of a proposal with our names on it. Yes...we all cried. It was the perfect ending to a perfect storybook day, in which two people embark on the journey to be one, and two families become joined forever.

Written by The Bride