Fries & Fairy Tales
The absolutely true love story of a boy and girl who love Whataburger a lot – and each other more
Once upon a time, a boy and a girl worked together at the Whataburger in Harlingen, Texas.
They loved the fries. They loved the Family. They really loved working together.
And now, let’s skip ahead to last week, just a few days after Valentine’s Day. That’s when Manuel “Manny” Monsebais knelt down on one knee in the dining room of the restaurant where this love story began.
And with four little words – “Will you marry me?” – he started a whole new chapter.
Their love story started two years ago, when both Monsebais and Jasmine Garza were working at Whataburger. She was a cashier, and he wore many hats, including cook and cashier. “Every time I would go to work, I would look forward to working with him,” Jasmine remembers. She even snapped Manny and Whataburger as her “2 best things” when they were working there.
So when Manny started planning the couple’s engagement, he knew just where to pop the question. And with the help of Jasmine’s family and his former coworkers at Whataburger, he pulled off a surprise that took her breath away.
A few days beforehand, Jasmine’s mom took her out for a girl’s day, where they got manicures. “She always told me to make sure she had her nails done if I was going to propose,” Manny says. (Oh, yeah. Manny picked out the ring by himself. It fits perfectly, and she loves it!)
Then, Jasmine’s mom invited her to Whataburger to eat and to plan her aunt’s baby shower. Jasmine had some questions – Why was her mom so dressed up? Why were so many members of her family here to plan the baby shower? Why was her mom more focused on whoever she was texting than planning the shower? – but she was focused on her fries, and didn’t worry about it too much.
And then, just as Jasmine popped a fry in her mouth, Manny came up behind her and put his hands over her eyes.
Manny had told her he would be at pre-deployment training in Brownwood two more days, so he was the last person she expected to see there. And – to be clear – if she hesitated in saying yes, it was because the French fry had caught in her throat, not because she had to think about her answer.
Manny had been planning the proposal for two months. He even got Whataburger Manager Jose Guereca in on the surprise. Guereca gave Jasmine a bouquet of heart-shaped balloons as the couple celebrated their engagement.
For Jasmine, Manny is the perfect Prince Charming, whether he’s in Whataburger orange or Army green. “When he came into my life, my life got better,” Jasmine says. “He cares for me. He has patience with me. He’s always here for me.”
From Manny’s perspective, his time with Jasmine has been filled with fun and laughter. “That’s when everything came together, and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” he says.
The wedding will wait until Manny returns from a nine-month deployment with the Army National Guard in Djibouti, Africa. His unit will leave in April. And when he gets back? That’s when they’ll officially begin their “happy ever after.”