At the time, I was a 5th grade teacher at Sacred Heart Catholic School. Tom's dad, Gary was (and still is) the principal there. One day, Gary asked if I would sing at his mother- in-law, Ellie Durica's funeral. I was honored to be asked and, of course, said yes. After the funeral, I was invited to the reception. Not long after I arrived, Tom walked right up and started talking to me. The conversation was easy, natural, and surprisingly comfortable for two people who didn't know much of the other. What I didn't know at the time? His family had been nudging him to go introduce himself because they thought we would be a great match. (LOL!) Meanwhile, I was certain Tom was interested. I even texted my mom, "I think Gary's son likes me." I left that day and didn't hear from him. Days passed. Nothing. Finally, I worked up the courage to send him a friend request on Facebook. He accepted! And then... nothing. For weeks. At that point, I had given up and he clearly wasn't interested. But then, completely out of the blue, Tom sent me a message one day. And from that day on, we have not stopped talking. We messaged, got to know each other and realized this was something special. At the time, Tom was living in Waukesha and I was in Oconto Falls, so we started out long-distance. We drove to see each other any weekend we could, counting down the days between visits and making the miles feel worth it. Eventually, Tom got a job in Green Bay, which made closing the distance possible. Not long after, we moved in together in Oconto falls, where we still are today. Looking back, we can't help but feel that Tom's grandma, Ellie, had a hand in all of this. What began at her funeral brought us together in a way neither of us expected. We like to think she was gently working behind the scenes, making sure we met at just the right time.