By Caitlin: Somehow, I had never met Christian when I came across his smiling bearded face on my Hinge app despite our paths being intertwined in Dallas for years. And sure he was handsome, but his answers to the dating app’s get-to-know-you prompts were a little too… serious and wordy. Not for me, I thought as I swiped left and sent his profile back into the void. I immediately regretted it. He was cute! Thankfully, he had swiped right on me later that day (naturally) which, in the world according to Hinge, meant his profile popped back up on my screen. Phew! I responded to his question about what HBO show I’m currently watching (Euphoria, #TeamMaddie) and the rest is history. All of this is to say… I turned down Christian at first (bragging rights), but I was also catfished by Christian. There has never been a more silly, self aware, and warm-hearted teddy bear of a man than Christian Yazdanpanah. He’s serious only when he needs to be. For our first date, we went to see The Godfather at the NorthPark AMC Theater, which was screening the film in Dolby for its 50th anniversary. I can’t say I recommend seeing a three-hour movie on a first date, but it worked for us. Between his loudly shuffling for snacks and my less-than-discrete wine pouring, we sat silently side by side as horse heads were left and cannolis were taken, but I felt as comfortable as if I’d known him for years. Afterwards, we were finally able to get to know each other over drinks at The Old Monk. I fell for his daughter even faster than I fell for him. When the three of us were together, it felt like we were always meant to be family — it just took us a few years to find each other. I could go on and on about how much fun and vibrancy Christian has brought to my life, or how his positive, open-hearted outlook has forever changed me for the better, but this is just the “Our Story” landing page of a Zola website — save it for the wedding, Caitlin! xx