The Miami Lakes Cultural Affairs Committee asked folks to share their love stories in a contest for Valentine’s Day.
The event, the committee said, was “to celebrate love across all cultures and ages as well as support the notion that love is universal.”
Here are the winners’ stories, as told in their own words and photos.
1st Place: Zee Aleman shares a mother’s love story
I fell in love with him sight unseen! I did not need eye or hair color, or any other descriptor. I loved him!
I began the long and strenuous road to fertility in 1998. At the age of 24, I had been told that I was unable to have children and extensive treatments would be required. One doctor went as far as to say that “my biological clock may have stopped ticking.”
My husband Ralph and I struggled emotionally and financially as the prospect of becoming parents diminished. We were tested and prodded and depleted our savings. I began the first cycle of fertility drugs to induce ovulation. That did not work. We moved on to painful injections that would lead to artificial insemination. No one warned us there would be so many tears.
After a year of saving, we tried again. Easter Sunday in 2001 would be my last artificial insemination. In June, we were told of the possibility of quintuplets. By July, between tears of sorrow and disappointment, we celebrated the one surviving baby. That day I fell in love again, for the second time in my life.
I gave birth to our son on February 4, 2002. With abundant black hair, Javin was a beautiful sight. Twenty-one years later, he remains my ultimate accomplishment.
Zee Aleman won a $100 gift card for the Trattoria Pampered Chef Restaurant.
2nd Place: Ramiro Inguanzo and Gina Inguanzo meet cute in nation’s capital
Art, and love, were in the air… February 17, 2000 was a cold and snowy night in Washington, D.C. We had each been invited by a mutual friend to an art exhibit at a museum near the Smithsonian. It was a small gallery and full of people. I noticed her as she was viewing one of the art pieces on display and saw that she was carrying a heavy, full-length wool coat, as the coat room was full by the time she had arrived.
I took a chance and approached her and offered to hold her coat. She accepted and we introduced ourselves. It turns out that our mutual friend who had invited us to the art exhibit had been trying to fix us up for months, knowing that we would be a good match. Neither she nor I had paid much attention to our friend, in the same way you don’t listen to your mom when she’s trying to fix you up with someone nice.
But destiny had other plans for us.
Although it was the year 2000, neither one of us had a cell phone yet, so I asked her for her home number and called her the next day. We made plans to meet for dinner, and the rest, as they say, is history. Less than two years later we were married in Rome, Italy, and soon thereafter we made our home in the beautiful Town of Miami Lakes and have lived and raised our family here ever since.
Ramiro Inguanzo won a $75 gift card for El Novillo Restaurant.
3rd Place: Erika Vega falls in love with Ivan Vega
It all started in 2017 with a swipe to the right and one loaded question: “How do you feel about pineapple on pizza?”
Thankfully, I answered correctly! We like pineapples and we like pizza, just not together.
Four years and a global pandemic later, we got married! Care to take a guess what two of our separate appetizers were? ;-)
Together, Ivan and I have experienced many highs and lows in life. In early 2020, I lost my dad, and Ivan was incredibly supportive of me, my mom and my family’s needs.
I couldn’t have had better support than my future hubby by my side. We finally tied the knot in August 2021 after several delays due to COVID-19, and oh wow, did we party that night! It was one of the first big parties any of us had experienced since the start of the pandemic, and it was pure bliss being surrounded by loved ones (without masks).
Shortly after that wonderfully unforgettable day, we moved to the beautiful town of Miami Lakes. A longtime resident myself, Ivan and I felt that we would love to settle down here. We eagerly look forward to writing the next chapter. Our love story continues...
Erika Vega won a $50 gift card for Korner 67 Restaurant.