The story starts in Durham, North Carolina. Christian was attending medical school at Duke, and Abby, a recent UNC graduate, was starting at a media company. As all Bumble encounters begin, Christian swiped right and Abby messaged back. Ever the eager beaver, Christian wasted no time setting the first date. On an unusually cold North Carolina winter evening, Christian sat outside of Motorco waiting for Abby. He was wearing a crisp peacoat, dark-wash jeans, and white Adidas Sambas, purposefully understated but woefully underdressed for the weather. Abby arrived in a similarly smart outfit: a long camel overcoat, forest green suede skirt (borrowed), tights, and black boots; again woefully underdressed. They exchanged smiles and an awkward first hug and headed inside to look for seats. Unfortunately, Motorco was a packed house that night, so they ordered food at the outside table. Three hours in the freezing cold later, they were still talking. Almost five years later, they're still chatting (and freezing) in Chicago, where Christian is an ophthalmology resident at Northwestern and Abby works remotely as a product/ technology director. Christian proposed in July 2020 on the rooftop of Abby's Ukrainian Village apartment after a long pandemic winter. Abby proposed right back with an engagement watch.