In January 2016, Alyssa and Teófilo met through a mutual friend, Laura Rubio. They got along remarkably that first night, but at the time Alyssa was living in Orlando, FL and only visiting Santo Domingo for a friend’s wedding, while Teófilo was living there full time. They kept in contact for months, and in the summer of that same year Alyssa went back to the Dominican Republic and they went out with the same group of friends they met through at the beginning of the year. They had a wonderful time together, but after that visit they both went back to their regular lifestyles, texting every now and then for their birthdays and special occasions, but they never met up again…

Until August 2019, when Alyssa went back to the DR for a vacation. She texted Teófilo letting him know she would be in town, and they set up to meet the day before she left the island. They talked for hours, shared each other’s visions of life, and even planned a trip to Puerto Rico, which at the time seemed surreal and like something they were just planning for fun. However, they kept texting, and a couple weeks later Teófilo sent her a screenshot of a plane ticket he had bought from the DR to Puerto Rico. A couple minutes later, Alyssa replied with a screenshot of a plane ticket from Orlando to Puerto Rico.

Everything seemed perfect until a couple days before Alyssa was supposed to depart for Puerto Rico. She was hesitating thinking of all the what ifs you can imagine. She called her best friend Shaira Arias and told her she was going to back out of the trip. Shaira listened to all her concerns and advised her to live the present and forget whatever doubts she was having. If everything seemed right, why hesitate? Shaira told Alyssa to add her in the Find My iPhone app and assured her she could fly out if anything went wrong. In the end, Alyssa boarded her flight and met Teófilo in Puerto Rico, and it soon became one of the funniest and best trips of both of their lives.

A couple months later in October 2019, Teófilo invited Alyssa to come celebrate his birthday in the DR with his family and friends. It was there that he asked her to make their relationship official, and she accepted, of course.

Two years and two months later, in December 2021, they got engaged in New York City in front of family and friends. They both continue to support each other’s dreams and are building the lifestyle they have always envisioned.

They can’t wait to get married, to receive God’s blessing and to celebrate their love with close family and friends.