{"id":108451,"date":"2019-02-13T17:17:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T22:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=108451"},"modified":"2021-04-15T17:31:36","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T21:31:36","slug":"andy-and-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2019\/02\/13\/andy-and-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"She said YES! The love tale of Andy and Carolina."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-108553\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina-1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina-1.jpg 625w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>When Carolina attended one of her Special Olympics swimming classes back in 2017, little did she know that her future soulmate was in that class. Shortly after the class started, they met. It was the first time Carolina met Andy, and it was love at first sight.<\/p>\n<p>Soon, the pair learned that they were both part of the Best Buddies Citizens program and that they both had been involved in Best Buddies for years!<\/p>\n<p>They had so much in common that Andy did not miss his chance, and soon asked Carolina out on a date.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cHe asked me out and I said yes. Then we started hanging out, going on more dates. He started taking me to dinner,\u201d said Carolina. \u201cHe took me out to dinner on my birthday, and he paid!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>To no one\u2019s surprise, their dates turned into something much more special. They were spending more and more time with each other. Their connection was undeniable.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cWe started talking on the phone for a very long time. We usually talked on the phone for more than an hour!\u201d she said excitingly.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-108552\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina--300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina--300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina--150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andy-carolina-.jpg 625w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Through the Best Buddies Citizens program, Andy and Carolina grew closer and made meaningful connections with their peers and even their Program Manager.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cAnything is possible with love and there should be no limitations for anyone, no matter what their circumstances are,\u201d said Cynthia Fernandez, Best Buddies Program Manager for the Citizens program in South Florida. \u201cBoth Carolina and Andy know how much I love and support them. They are my lovebirds.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>For Carolina, the Best Buddies Citizens program \u2014 which pairs adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in one-to-one friendships with other individuals in corporate and civic communities \u2014 has been beneficial in many ways.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cThe Best Buddies program helps me with a lot of things. It helps me to be more independent and do things fun things on my own with Andy,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This past December, two years after they started dating, Andy gathered his family, as well as Carolina and her family, for a special moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cThe first thing he gave me was a frame that said \u2018I love you to the moon and back,\u2019\u201d said Carolina.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Then, it happened. Surrounded by the couple\u2019s closest friends and family members, Andy proposed to Carolina!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cWe were both emotional. I was so happy when he proposed, and of course, <strong>I said YES!<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-108571\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/bb-love.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/bb-love.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/bb-love-150x75.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The day was filled with love and gratitude for everyone, but for one person, the couple\u2019s engagement signified a special milestone.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #5a3f98\"><em>\u201cI remember when Carolina was born, my husband talked about if he\u2019d ever be able to walk his daughter down the aisle to get married, and we could never imagine that it would happen to her. We are very happy for both of them,\u201d said Lilianne Rossel, Carolina\u2019s mother. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s like\u2026 you look at them and it\u2019s like a dream.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For Carolina and Andy, their engagement was one of the most special days of their lives. The young couple is now looking forward to their wedding, which will take place in 2020!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; When Carolina attended one of her Special Olympics swimming classes back in 2017, little did she know that her future soulmate was in that class. Shortly after the class started, they met. It was the first time Carolina met Andy, and it was love at first sight. Soon, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":108553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"blog-news-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,676],"tags":[87,746],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>She said YES! The love tale of Andy and Carolina. - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2019\/02\/13\/andy-and-carolina\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"She said YES! 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