JOSÉ & DELANEY 

It All Started with a Story 

How We Met

Delaney: It was June of 2018, the first time we had gone scuba diving since earning our certifications

earlier that year. My Mom, brother, and I were on our way to Cozumel, Mexico for a week of fun

underwater! June 28th, we woke up early, excited for our first day of diving. We met with our guide,

Jose Luis, and even made some friends on the boat. One of the other guides caught my eye, but it

wasn’t until he did the briefing to the boat in perfect English with a hint of a Southern accent that I

became curious.

Joe: I remember perfectly when I first saw Delaney, fortunately I want to believe she did not notice I was

looking at her because of my sunglasses and I was trying to be discreet. I was also a little busy with my

private tour that day and we did not interact much. The week went on and one day I was called be a

second divemaster to a group of divers that wanted to do the C-53 wreck dive and I did not know the

divers in question, as I was reading the files I noticed I was going to be babysitting a bunch of newbies,

at first I was originally going to give away that trip, but as soon as I saw Delaney and her family loading

up on the same boat I was supposed to be on… well I changed my mind. We interacted a little and

decided to throw a lure out and asked her and her family if they wanted to try some local food,

fortunately they agreed and I took them to one of my favorite places called “Chilangos”. I met them at

the restaurant, I decided to show up on my KTM 640 and on that night we noticed that we had more

things in common and one of them was riding offroad motorcycles.

Delaney: So after finding out we had several things in common, and realizing we enjoyed each other’s

company, imagine my frustration when we went out for drinks one of the nights I was there and he

didn’t even make a move!

Joe: Hey, I was being respectful!

Delaney: Anyway, after playing the long game, being friends for a year, and keeping in touch via text,

FaceTime, and Instagram, he finally asked me out on a “proper date” when I returned to the island in

May 2019. I was a little nervous, but mostly excited to see him again since we had a friendship

established at that point.

Joe: I somehow managed to take a quick break from work to control my nerves and pick up Laney from

the ferry. When I pulled up in the truck and saw her blonde hair, making her stick out like a sore thumb,

I got even more nervous! Once she smiled and hugged me, I felt myself relax a little bit.

Delaney: You were still so stiff though! I couldn’t tell if you were even happy that I was there!

Joe: I was! I just couldn’t believe that you came a day early to go out with me! Anyway, since I had to

return to work, we quickly dropped off her luggage, I kissed her for the first time (I think I blacked out),

and I took her to the resort to chill for the rest of the day while I finished work.

Delaney: After Joe finished work, we got cleaned up and he took me out for dinner. At this point, it was

like hanging out with an old friend, but I still had butterflies because there he was in front of me!

Joe: I still couldn’t believe you were there! Her family arrived the next day and we all had a great week

diving. I wanted to see her again, but I had no idea how this was going to work. So, imagine my surprise

when she told me she would be in Texas for work within the next couple of months and would take a

few days off afterwards and fly down to see me!

Delaney: Easiest decision ever! (That is, until he asked me to marry him!)