According to Michael: In the fall of 2019, Ayee and I were looking for the same thing but for different reasons. She was looking for a date for the 244th Marine Corps Birthday Ball. I don’t need to tell her side of the story since she tells it below. I was also looking for a ball date and was desperate to go because I hadn’t been in the two previous years because of military training exercises. While qualifying on the pistol range, I was talking to some Marines, and they mentioned the app Bumble. Now, this could have been a perilous adventure considering I was listening to recruiters and teenagers discussing how efficient Bumble is. Long story short, I took their advice and set up an account. I saw her on Bumble and knew I had to talk to her. One of her photos was in a flight suit and aviator jacket, so I assumed she was a Marine C-130 pilot. We started chatting and set up a date. For the first time in my life, I was late for something, but I was late because I stopped for lotion. I wore shorts and my favorite maroon shirt, while she was in a sweater and blue jeans. My first thought was that she would be mad that I was late and had her waiting out in the warm weather. She was primarily quiet, so I did the majority of the talking. Perhaps she had decided to pass on me at some point during lunch, but at the end of the lunch, I was able to influence her decision for a second date because I gave her a golden rose that was originally red. I spray-painted the rose gold because it would have been awkward to give her a red rose on the first date. I left the rose in the truck because I wasn’t sure how the date would go. We continued to talk and go on dates, and eventually, she asked me to the Marine Corps Ball. According to Ayee: In the fall of 2019, I was living in the small military town of New Bern, North Carolina, when I decided to give the dating app Bumble a try. I told myself would only use it for three days, and on the first day, I matched with Michael. Soon after, we had our first date at a local Indian restaurant, where Michael spent most of the date talking. A surprising detail for someone who describes himself as "shy." On one of our first dates, he mentioned how he loves attending the Marine Corps Ball but will miss it that year due to training in Virginia. My unit's ball was after he got back, so I invited him so he could get his ball fix for the year. We ended up having such a good time that during the ball, Michael asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes, and the rest is history!