It all started with a “Hey” on Instagram. After eight months of a long-distance relationship, Nicholas Ferrer (’18) never thought that he and his girlfriend would break up, and a week before his birthday at that. He had never even met her in person before.

The breakup wasn’t without regrets, and his girlfriend, Sierah Ginnity, who lives in Virginia, tried to text him during the week after their split. Ferrer didn’t respond.

“She thought the only solution to fix the relationship was to take time apart… not a regular break, to actually break up,” Ferrer said. “I was destroyed when she thought [that].”

Fast forward a week later to Ferrer’s birthday, when many things were still left unsaid.

“She called me Wednesday night, left me a voicemail saying ‘Hey, I miss you. I really want to talk to you. I just want to wish you a happy birthday. I’m going to send you my package before you know it,'” Ferrer decided to call her back and the fighting started again.

Ginnity texted him again wishing him a happy birthday and left the cryptic message, “I hope you like what you wake up to the next morning.”

Despite waking up with a weird feeling in his gut, Ferrer got up and started about his day. Everything was relatively normal until he was signed out during third period with no warning.

“The first thing that came in my head was my grandpa so I started running and [a friend] saw me and [I got] a ride with him,” Ferrer said. Little did he know that his mother had already texted him telling him not to worry, that she had signed him out and there was no emergency.

But things only got more confusing for Ferrer. His mom texted him again saying, “STAY HOME, DONT COME OUT, ITS A SURPRISE. Take a shower, get dressed, look nice, ask your boss if you can have the day off once you see your surprise.”

Ferrer had started to catch on, but wouldn’t let himself believe it until there was a knock on the door. When he saw what was waiting on the other side, he started crying, flew back, tripped and screamed, “Wooh!”

Ginnity was standing there after driving 900 miles in 14 hours and spending her savings to work things out.

“For her to pull such an act, I was about ready to faint with her standing right there, looking like a goddess,” Ferrer said. “I know, as most guys, you’re not supposed to tear up. But for a girl like that, I would do anything for her.”

“I kept stuttering out my words. I couldn’t speak,” Ferrer said. “I wouldn’t let go of her, I just kept hugging her while we were talking.”

The feeling was mutual, as Ginnity was just as caught up in meeting Ferrer for the first time.

“I often dreamed about what it would be to finally see him, but when the time came it was better than anything I could imagine in my head,” Ginnity said. “I found myself feeling like a little kid again, getting red in the face and non-stop smiling and laughing and getting shy.”

When Ferrer asked Ginnity why she had driven all the way to visit him, her answer was final.

“I want to prove to you and show you that I’m willing to spend the rest of my life with you. And I hope with what I pulled, this proved just enough,” Ginnity told Ferrer.