We met online, in 2017, while Alex was living in Pittsfield, MA working at The Mount, and Julia was finishing school at Smith College, here in Northampton, MA. Alex sent Julia a few solid paragraphs about Harry Potter, books, or something silly, and they set a date to get tea at a shop in Northampton. They talked about their lives, museums, Star Wars and Harry Potter, and left so excited that they saw each other again three days later. Months later, Julia graduated and moved back to Portsmouth, NH - Alex would drive to visit every now and again, until Julia left to finish her masters program in Geneva, Switzerland. Of course, Alex HAD to go visit and ate every ounce of chocolate that he could find. Alex moved to Boston, MA, in early 2018, and then Julia returned from Switzerland and found her job at Harvard Business School later in 2018. they continued to date through this time, finally living in the same city after a number of years until summer of 2019 when they moved in together and adopted their cat, Matilda. They lived and worked together at home throughout the pandemic, while Alex was working at the Boston Marathon. He finally proposed in November 2022 in Bellingham, WA.