CHANGE DATE 06/13/2021

It was Fall 2017. My lifestyle was strictly about working hard and catching “flights, not feelings.” I just worked one of the worst 60-hour weeks of my life and was exhausted, but I fought against sleeping in because my friend, Jess, was in town and I was looking forward to meeting up for our pre-planned Long Island wine tour. I’d been on the dating app, Tinder, for a while for fun and mostly exclusive to browsing within Manhattan and Queens. But on this particular day, I kept an open mind and swiped while sitting on the LIRR on the way to our tour. This is where I first saw him - this really cute guy in his graduation photo (interesting), along with photos from his travels to Neuschwanstein and Barcelona (hell yess). I bit the bullet against my better judgement of matching with guys from Long Island, but I didn’t really take this app too seriously anyway, so why not? The next morning, I woke up to a match notification and an enthusiastic “Hey, Charlene!” message and we immediately connected. After our initial conversation, I got so consumed by my long, busy shifts for three straight days that I haven’t opened the Tinder app and didn’t see his messages. Once we resumed, he instantly got my number so that wouldn’t happen again. From that moment forward, he’s messaged me first thing in the morning and the end of every night since. Talking to him was like nothing else - there were no games, just effortless chemistry getting to know one another and I was hooked. I found myself with butterflies waking up to every morning text, sharing snaps (via Snapchat) of everything, and sharing in our many loves of coffee, beer, and traveling. He’ll deny it to this day, but I was definitely the one who asked him out to dinner for the following Saturday because I was so eager to meet him.

The Saturday night we finally met up, I told him I was running late to our dinner in the East Village, but then I showed up early (Google Maps underestimates my walking speed). I walked over to Tompkins Square Park and sat at a bench waiting anxiously for him to show up. I was so nervous, I thought nearly every guy who passed my bench was him. Then the most gorgeous (and strikingly tall) of them all walked towards me and *my heart* and I leapt out of my seat to hug him. I was floored by how handsome he was, way better in person than his photos from Tinder (ow owwwwww, yesss, hallelujah!!!). With his looks, his charm, and the biological guarantee that our offspring will be of above-average height, I was suspicious he was too-good-to-be-true or still browsing other options. Even through dinner, he accepted the challenge of chopsticks for the first time in front of me and I was thoroughly entertained. He officially stole my heart. I walked him to his friends’ place nearby after dinner and I swooned so hard that I ended all the relationships I had from the dating app that night. I actively volunteered to travel fhe almost 2-hour commute for our subsequent dates to make sure I secured my future hubby - one month from our first date, he was officially secured ;). Now I got me a man who catches flights AND feelings with me.

Charlene first came into my life when I swiped right on her. It was a match! She was the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen with a variety of photos of her snorkeling in Cabo, hiking Fuji, on a beach in Thailand, and I knew I had to get to know her. I immediately sent her a text after the match. I started the conversation off with just a "Hey, Charlene". From there our conversations would last all day, running smoothly and so effortlessly. I was constantly waiting for the next text to arrive and plotting out each reply carefully, making sure I used enough emojis so she could understand what I was trying to say. Each change in direction and continuation of our conversations made it more apparent that I needed to meet her because I've never had such an easy and enjoyable time from texting someone. Then our chat went dead. It went from sending texts at least 3-5 texts an hour, from the time we woke up to the time we went to sleep, to all of a sudden nothing. I couldn't believe it! I wondered what happened or why and nothing was adding up. Finally, a text from her arrived. Her nursing shifts took over her life (I understand now). We'd been talking on the app but at this point, I needed her number to make sure it didn't happen again. Our conversations then picked up where we left off and I was obsessed with talking to her. She was something very special and I couldn't get enough. Since she lived in the city, I knew it would be a lot easier for me to come to her area than the other way around. I encouraged some of my coworkers around the office to go out in the city. Any little chance to talk it up and bring up how much fun we would have. I did my best. We planned on going out on Saturday, meeting up at 9pm. Why I needed to go out with them just to drag me to the city is beyond me. I fed this information to Charlene and, eventually, she asked me out to dinner at a restaurant called Hanoi House in the East Village before I go out later with my coworkers.

The restaurant was next to Tompkins Square Park, where we decided to meet. I arrived hours earlier because I didn't want to be late and I wanted to explore the city a little bit. I was left wandering the streets anxiously waiting for time to pass and the chance to finally meet Charlene. I actually scoped out the area first. I found the park and the restaurant where we would be eating, it made me feel better prepared. I walked away to a different area since there was still time and she said she was running late. Then I get a text from her saying she arrived early. I walked back to the park and nervously approached. My heart started beating faster and my hands were getting sweaty as I knew I was about to meet someone that I wanted to impress and like me. I noticed this stunning woman on the bench from afar. She was wearing a teal jacket, blue jeans, and black Adidas running shoes (A woman after my heart) with a smile on her face (her smile wasn't as big as mine). She got up off of the bench and approached me. I said "Charlene?" She replied "Ryan?" Just to hear her voice that was so sweet but also sharp left me wanting to hear more. Her pictures didn't do her justice. She was this flawless beauty who captured my gaze and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to even date her. She was everything I've dreamed of. We hugged as I towered over her. She seemed shocked. I told her I was tall. Everything about her was so impressive and charming, from her stunning looks to our simple conversations. I'd never experienced anything like it before. On our first date, she taught me how to eat chopsticks and introduced me to Vietnamese pho for the first time. Ever since that day, she's taught me so much more about life, the world, and chopsticks. I got so damn lucky to call her my beautiful girlfriend soon after, and even luckier as my fiance/wife and partner-in-crime.