Aimee & Jose

Aimee Louisa Gornik

Born September 14, 1983 in Evanston, Ill.

Q: How, when, and where did you first meet?
We met in the halls of our Reavis high school in the year of 1999 from what I remember. I had made friends with other girls who went to junior high with him, so I knew of Jose yet did not actually meet him until a few months later. Jose was wearing a Boston Celtics jersey the first time I saw him, and with me being a Bulls fan, I wondered what he was all about. He was shorter then myself at the time so I did not consider him someone I would date. I do remember that he had a contagious smile with sparkly white teeth, puppy dog brown eyes and was always very sweet to me, started calling me Aims as soon as we became friends. I always found some type of comfort being around him. He was a bit of a flirt back in the day.

Q: How long have you been dating, and how long have you been engaged?
I would say officially in September of 2006 we started dating. We had several growing pains along the way with a few breakups from 2007 to 2008. And we officially rekindled in December of 2008. We have been engaged since December 22, 2014.

Q: Was there anything interesting/noteworthy/creative about the proposal itself?
The actual day of our proposal was the last day of my job in a hospital emergency room, so needless to say I was relieved and felt a weight off of my shoulder.We went to the Chicago Bulls game and the Bulls won against the Raptors. I actually felt extremely nervous at the game because I wondered if he was going to propose there. He knows Christmas is my favorite time of year and we both have a special love for the Bulls, so it would have been the perfect moment. At one point, he put his hands in his coat pocket and I braced myself, yet he took out his chap stick and replenished his lips. To my surprise, we had a late night reservation at Weber Grill, the spot of our first date back on my 23rd birthday. We indulged in our favorite meal of salad, steak, baked potato, veggies and red wine. Again, I braced myself for the moment he would get down on one knee as we ventured to the back of the restaurant after our meal to the actual table that we sat at on our first date, yet nothing. So the valet brought our car, we drove home back to the burbs, and in typical Aimee fashion I fell asleep on our car ride home. We picked up Jayden from Jose’s parents and headed home. I felt bummed that it didn’t happen during our special moments of that night. Jayden was asleep so I carried him into the house, and Jose told me to go in through the basement, to my surprise there was my proposal! Tea lights in a heart shape with the words, Marry Me Aim in rose petals on the floor! I was beyond surprised! He got down on one knee and I said yes. He said he tricked me and wanted to wait until the end of our date while Jayden was with us to ask me to marry him. First thing out of Jay’s mouth, “We are all going to be the Gomez family.”

Q: What is unique/interesting/distinctive about you two as a couple, what do you have in common, and what qualities make you compatible with and complementary to each other?
What’s unique about our love story is that there were so many incidents of us unintentionally growing apart - after high school, before we started dating, we each went our separate ways. Me to Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill. (the corn fields as I like to call it) and Jose to boot camp for training to become a Marine. We would write friendly letters to one another (I saved them all) and I actually got him in trouble one time because I put a Smarties candy roll in an envelope with a Halloween card. We always kept in touch with one another, yet were just friends. Jose then served three tours in Iraq, and I was completing college at Loyola University and living the city life in Chicago, focusing on school. When Jose came home in the summer of 2016 from his final tour of Iraq and living in California, I was studying abroad in Rome, Italy, and he was finally catching up with friends and family. We were separated so many times, yet that seemed to keep our fire for one another alive.

Q: What do you love about your partner?
I love that Jose is fully capable of caring for our son on his own. He is a hands on father, who from the beginning of Jayden’s birth, never had an issue with changing diapers, feeding him or being alone with him on nights that I worked my bartending job. Jose has stepped up in a multitude of ways as a parent and positive role model to Jayden. I love his patience with him and desire to teach him how to treat others. Jayden has been our biggest challenge together, he is a sassy, strong willed young man, yet with Jose by my side, I feel confident we can continue our parenting journey together with pride and laughter. I also love Jose’s honesty. I tend to hold back on my feelings towards others, yet Jose has taught how to express myself and be more confident with my decisions. He always tells me, “Go with your gut feeling,” which he know I always have one. Jose has grown immensely in his training of being a detective and conversing with others in a kind and compassionate manner. I also love his new long hair. He looks super duper handsome!

Q: Why are you right for each other, and why do you want to spend the rest of your life with this person? 
We are right for each other because we balance one another out perfectly. He thinks with his rational mind, while I think primarily with my emotional mind. We are great parents together and agree with how to raise and discipline our child. We both love to talk about social injustices, psychology and basketball. We have chosen interesting careers that we are both extremely passionate about that keeps us moving on a daily basis. We tend to drive each other up the wall every so often, yet we always come back together as one.

Q: What are you looking forward to as a married couple after the wedding?
I am looking forward to becoming Mrs. Gomez and having a new identity in a name. I have always loved Jose’s family and they have accepted me with open arms since day one, so becoming a Gomez is an honor. I also can’t wait to have another child with this man.

Q: What hobbies/pastimes/side interests do you have?
I love to dance, was on dance team at community college, participated in several theatre productions such as Rocky Horror Picture Show and Tommy. I still have a passion for dance and love to attend musicals and follow specific choreographers. Jayden is following in my footsteps and loves hip hop dancing. Our favorite choreographers are Willdabeast Adams and CJ Salvadore. Love socializing with others, creating specialty cocktails for my friends and family at social gatherings, hosting parties, anything Bulls basketball, cleaning and learning about others and their history. I love history, specifically American, such as the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. Would love to visit Springfield and Washington, D.C. again. I love steak dinners, spending time with Jose and Jayden on our comfy couch eating pizza watching Netflix. Going to movies with Jose, I love sweets, specifically cookies and Reeses. I love would love to one day start a support group for veterans and police officers. I genuinely love helping others and enlightening them with their own special characteristics. I love celebrating holidays and decorating my house, specifically Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.