...and thought she was gonna murder him

   

DATE: October 2013

Cervando moves to California and doesn't know anyone

  So when I graduated from college in 2013 and got broken up with, I did what any sane person with severe anxiety and ADHD would do: I moved to California to go to grad school. Y’know, #thriving.

 

He’s so handsome! -Cervando’s Mom

 

I only knew one person (shoutout to my boy Matty T.) in Monterey, California when I arrived to the Monterey Institute of International Studies. It was very stressful. I was pretty scared. Pretty anxious too. I had never been that far away from home on my own.

 

Then Halloween rolled around. And of course I dressed up as the best super hero:

Indiana Jones

He looks just like Harrison Ford! -Cervando’s Mom

 

And that was that.

Until that night I was walking down the street on campus when a white car pulls up to me and the window rolls down.

Inside was a girl I had met on orientation day, and she was dressed in red and had devil horns. And the devil, or “EL DIABLO” Mama Bañuelos warns anyone who will listen to her, says to me from the rolled down window:

"GET IN LOSER. WE'RE GONNA GO GET SUSHI."

It wasn’t a question.

So I got in.

She started driving.

What she failed to tell me was that we were going to go get sushi…

FORTY FIVE MINUTES AWAY

in Santa Cruz, California. Now, here’s something fun for you to know: If you’re ever in Monterey (which I hope you will for the wedding) and you drive to Santa Cruz, you go around the Monterey Bay. During the day you see the beautiful blue ocean, the rolling foothills, some sand dunes, and then you get to the forest over by Santa Cruz. Great scenic drive.

Now, at this point in the story I will take this time to note something: at this point in my life, I was still pretty anxious, and quite frankly scared of being out on my own. I was buying my groceries at Walgreens because I was just so unfamiliar with the area. (There was a Trader Joes like 2 blocks away but even that seemed terrifying.)

So when the Devil tells you that you’re going to go get sushi, the last thing you expect is that the sushi is going to be in Santa Cruz. And so that scenic drive I mentioned? Now imagine it

AT NIGHT.

WITH A STRANGER.

IN THE PITCH BLACK ROAD.

I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA GET MURDERED Y'ALL.

 

We get to Santa Cruz. We have sushi.

 

Turns out I didn’t get murdered!

 

And that’s it.

Over 10 years ago I got into a car and went through a rollercoaster of emotions thinking I was going to DIE only to find my best friend. The person I am marrying. The person that for 10 years has been there for me and still taking me through the wackiest adventures.

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