A love written in the stars

Asha’s Version: Ali and I met on Hinge in January 2022, thanks to my sister Najah who created a profile for me and added a now-infamous line: “A weird quirk about me is that I love chocolate chip cookies… but only with orange juice.” Most of the responses I got were polite but confused. Then one day, a random guy messaged me saying, “That sounds disgusting…” I had just wrapped up a long day at work and thought, really? You liked my profile just to insult me? I was prepared to respond with utter nastiness when I opened the full message and saw it actually said, “That sounds disgusting… I’m trying this tonight.” My annoyance quickly faded, and I messaged him back asking if he followed through. He had. Ali went out in the middle of a snowstorm to buy cookies and orange juice so he could try it for himself. He told me it was delicious, which of course it is. That earned him a first date. From there we started spending time together at board game cafes, baseball games, and on food adventures all around the city. After just a few months, Ali moved to New York while I moved to DC, and we began a long-distance chapter filled with goodbyes at Amtrak stations, FaceTime dinners, surprise visits, and countdowns until the next time we would be in the same place. We learned how to love each other across cities, how to stay close even when far apart, and how to support one another through the ups and downs of life. We celebrated birthdays (in the most over the top ways), comforted each other through tough moments, and built a relationship that felt steady and full of joy no matter the distance. After three and a half years of growing together, both side by side and across state lines, I knew I had found my person. Ali proposed in Chicago on July 3, 2025 and we can’t wait to go into the next chapter of our lives together, starting with you! Ali’s Version: What she said.