In December 2016, Reniel was travelling home to Puerto Rico from Miami. Mahya happened to take the same flight. They sat beside each other on the plane and after a couple of hours Reniel mustered up some courage and said “de que parte de la isla eres?”. Obviously, Mahya didn’t understand a word and responded, “sorry I don’t speak Spanish!”. Realizing that Mahya was a solo traveler to his country, Reniel was a true gentleman giving her all sorts of tips and places she should visit and offered his number in case she would ever need anything during her stay.

They knew there was something special about their meeting. They kept their contacts- occasional text messages became more frequent and eventually turned into none stop everyday calls and more trips between Canada and Puerto Rico to meet each other and their families.

In early 2018, Mahya had a job opportunity to move to New Jersey, USA. They both decided to leave their home countries, friends and family behind to start a new life together in NJ. That happened to be the best decision of their lives and they have been inseparable and so happy together since.