Sabrina Standing

Sabrina is a beautiful person inside and out. She is very out-going, fun, and loving person. She's always there to provide advice and support during the good and bad times. She is hardworking, compassionate, and a person that will go out of her way to help a friend or family member in need. Most of all, I love that she is down to earth, humble, and easy to please. She loves the little things in life which always brings out her perfect smile. That is the person I fell in love with and love so much. --EB

Sabrina Standing

Essa, is one of the most patient poeple I have ever met. He is calm, level headed, and a great thinker! He is an intelligient person. He is someone that takes his time to make decisions whether the decision is big or small. He is very reliable, someone I or anyone can trust. He gives great advice and is someone who has one of the best work ethics. He strives for the best always, and is simply optimisitc about life. He is a great friend, and is loving, and quite honestly, he has a great sense of humor. --SL


as told by
essa


I was home for the summer after finishing my sophomore year of college. My parents were hosting an engagement party for a relative at their house. It was a big event and a lot of people in the area were invited. I was helping my parents set things up for the party all day so it was a busy day for me. I was the person responsible for grilling at the party so I was pretty miserable since it was hot and everybody wanted something. We eventually ran out of food to grill (thank God) and I decided to take a break. I got some food and went to the front porch of the house to eat.

While sitting on the porch, I noticed someone walking up the driveway from the corner of my eye. I know this sounds cheesy, but I looked over and saw the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. Her outfit was very simple – jeans, t-shirt, and her hair was in a pony tail - but she looked just gorgeous. I introduced myself and she told me her name. The first thing I noticed was her big smile and super white teeth. I felt a little

embarrassed and nervous because I smelled like smoke and sweat from all the grilling. Regardless, I knew wanted to get to know her so I had to get my game together. I walked her into the house to get her some food, showed her around, and more importantly made a good first impression.

I don’t remember much about the conversation we had, but I remember her smiling and laughing and I knew there was a connection there. I wanted to figure whether or not she was interested in me so I decided to give her some space and see if she would come to talk to me later. I decided to go upstairs to my room to change clothes and relax a bit. I was in my room playing video games and watching TV for about 10 minutes when I heard a knock on the door and there she was.

She stood at the door with that infectious smile of hers and that made me smile. At that moment, I knew she was interested in me and she came into the room and we just started talking. After a long conversation, we made plans to see each other the following weekend and ended up spending the summer getting to know each other and the rest is history.


as told by
sabrina


In 2003, a friend of mine invited me to an engagement party, and I agreed to attend the engagement party, granted I was fairly new to the neighborhood and to the state of Pennsylvania. When we got to the house where the engagement party was being held, I was chatting with some of the people I knew there, and then I saw this guy, wearing a white T shirt, and a pair of shorts sitting on the front porch intermingling with others, and I went over to introduce myself. I had never seen him before and I thought, he seemed interesting and I wanted to spend some time to get to him a bit more.

We introduced ourselves to one another, and I learned he was home on summer break from Penn State University. Essa, asked me if I was hungry, and if he could get me something to eat. I thought, wow, not only does he appear to be smart, but he is caring. From the little I gathered from talking to him, I knew he is very easy to talk to and easy to get along with. We talked for some time, and we decided to meet up again at a relative’s graduation party, and I could hardly wait to see him again. Essa and I met up again at the graduation party, and I remembered just

saying wow, not only is he handsome, but he is very smart, and had some great moves on the dance floor. We danced the whole night away, and I remember Essa saying, “Wow, this girl never slows down, she dances non stop”.

We took the entire summer to get to know each other, and when it was time for Essa to return to school I was distraught because I was having too much fun and did not want it to stop. We decided to stay in touch with each other. As Essa would say, “no matter what you do, I just know you and we will end up together”.

When he asked me to marry him, he brought up the fact that he always knew we would end up together no matter what. Life has its way of unfolding; you just have to live YOUR LIFE, and know that God has plans for your life, and if you are patient, he will answer your prayers.