Mindy's Story Approximately nine years ago, I was chatting with my coworker Alanna when she casually mentioned to me that she knows a great guy who she thought would be perfect for me. I was intrigued, but barely dating at the time and for that reason plus a couple others, nothing ever happened. Fast forward about five or six years, and I was headed to Israel for a year on a program to volunteer and teach English. A good friend of mine kept telling me that he has a friend I should meet when I get to Israel. I finally get to Jerusalem and a few weeks later head over to my friend’s apartment to check it out and meet his roommates. I was sitting there on the love seat, semi-napping, when in walks Austin, wearing his IDF uniform (the only time I ever saw him in uniform). My first thought was that he was cute, but the red beard threw me. He asked for a moment “to become human again,” and once he changed into civilian clothes (shorts and t-shirt), he came over to meet me. We sat there and chatted, and I don’t remember much other than discussing Harry Potter (a staple in our relationship). We saw each other sporadically for several months, a shabbat here and there, until one Friday afternoon in January when I stopped by their apartment for a few minutes. They were busy cleaning and cooking for Shabbat, there was music blasting and Austin stepped out of his room with his green cap on backwards as he always does. And with the song “Airplanes” playing in the background, I had an epiphany, a lightbulb moment, and I knew I wanted to go out with Austin. It took a couple of months from there, as Austin travelled for his birthday and I did for a friend’s wedding. But during his birthday weekend, I knew I was going to make it happen. (A friend of mine also came over to see me there and when she saw Austin, she looked at me with a surprised look and mouthed “wow he’s cute.”) That weekend I finagled a brunch out of Austin and waited for him to follow up. March 5, 2019: I wore green that day, my best color. We went to Hasandak and had to go inside when it started raining. I couldn’t figure out if it was a date or not, but I knew I wanted it to be one. We eventually decided to retroactively count it as one, and so it became our first. Three months later I said “I love you” for the first time. He proposed on Halloween of 2020-a party he had me plan as a decoy-and surrounded by our close friends. For three years now we have been together, through ups and downs, through pandemics, through over 100 shabbats together. And starting July 11, 2022, we will be for the rest of our lives. Austin's Story Mindy and I couldn’t ask for a more magical story and the foreshadowing for our relationship is that of fantasy novels. Like historic lore going back hundreds of years, mine and Mindy’s ancestors worked side by side. Friends tried to introduce time and time again, but it wasn’t ripe yet for our fairytale to begin. In a whirlwind of faith that took us both individually out of the US, we finally met in Oz…. I mean Israel. Like the sword in the stone we seem to defy all odds and like Romeo and Juliet we made haste in falling in love. It’s a beautiful romance that Disney princes and princesses will envy and this happily ever after can’t be questioned. We are gonna go farther than the second star on the right and straight on till morning and even if we have to walk through the fields of Mordor, we know that it is star-written that we will have one ring keeping us tied in love’s bound - Always.