Alex and Alana met several years ago for their first date, in a well known Washington DC book store, Politics and Prose. They shared a coffee, wandered the book store, and talked about their favorite things. It was an appropriate foreshadowing for their many future coffee shop explorations and conversations to come. At the time, Alana was just several weeks away from leaving DC to begin medical school in California. Luckily, this didn't stop Alex and Alana from spending time with another. In fact, in the turbulence of moving and traveling, Alex offered to let Alana live with his family in Northern Virginia for a week while she was between her move to California. Alana instantly felt at home with Alex's family. She saw Alex's true self very quickly too, making her even more interested in the kind, family-oriented, and goofy person Alex is. Unfortunately, things had to come to an end ~but really an unknown pause~ when Alana moved out to California. Alex and Alana remained friends, connecting whenever Alana completed a bike race and wanted to share her feats with Alex. Mostly, they would just check in to see how the other was doing. ...Until... Alana received a wedding invite, and wanting to make sure she had a willing dance partner, knew she had to invite Alex to join her. Sprawled out anxiously on the floor of her kitchen, Alana fired off the risky text that set them on the course they’re on now. At the wedding! Even after having not seen each other for 3 years, Alana and Alex picked up right where they left off. After a whirlwind of a weekend in St. Louis featuring a broken wrist from ice skating, matching hospital beds in the ER, and historic dancing, they both knew this time was different. They refused to say goodbye. A few months later, Alex moved out to California to be with Alana and Jim. In all the uncertainty of the match process and residency program ahead of them, Alana and Alex turned to the one thing they could rely on most, each other. With a stroke of luck they all ended up back in DC for Alana's residency program at GW. Alex knew that Alana was the one from the first weeks they spent together. The way she nurtured her friendships, took challenges head on, and how deftly she could stand on one foot. The two years they spent together in California and Virginia only solidified what he’d known all along. On April 7th, 2024 Alex proposed to Alana in the company of their loved ones. And so their story continues.