Dana Lynn and Garrett were living in New York City in November 2016. She was living in a well-to-do part of the city known as Midtown East – tailored for the sophisticated and fashionistas. He was living in Western Harlem – filled with soul, culture, and energy. Not knowing each other, except for matching on a common dating App, Bumble. For those not familiar, the lady has to initiate conversation after a “match.” The man must wait, patiently, for a match to reach out. As required, Dana Lynn reached out to Garrett. The two messaged back and forth for about a week. Then, after Garrett’s inability to ask Dana Lynn on any sort of concrete date or set plans, she states, “are you going to ask me out or what.” With that, Garrett was intrigued. So the two met for a glass of wine at a cozy wine bar located on the northern tip of SOHO. Then came the second date – where they went to a play on Broadway, and bounced from wine bar to hotel bar to live music hall, and ended the night somewhere south of Central Park. It was on this date that Dana Lynn realized that Garrett was leaving for the Marine Corps…in six months. Needless to say, the two of them hit it off fairly quickly, and were focused on making it work no matter the circumstances. After Garrett left for military basic training, Dana Lynn was alone in the city :-(. This is when her fondness for cats was born and grew. During the 10 weeks of officer candidate school, Dana wrote Garrett letters, at least one a day. Sometimes two a day. Garrett received so much mail for those 10 weeks that the Sergeant Instructors bagan to throw mail at Garrett instead of handing it to him during mail time. Even though separated by distance, the two stay connected via letters, and video chats when time allowed. The two made the best of a less than ideal situation, being in a long distance relationship for 4 years. Every month, Dana Lynn would fly to North Carolina on a Friday evening flight, just to hop on a return flight on Sunday afternoon. Garrett would reciprocate. During the initial months of 2020, Garrett was not able to leave the area, and so 4 long months passed without a visit. Separating from the Marines could not come soon enough, Dana constantly thought. The two now live together, (along with Dave and Annie and Chloe and Theo!) on Long Island. Both know that time is a valuable and scarce resource, so both intend to take advantage of the time they have together. Both also know that they would not be in the position they are today without the love and support of their family and friends. Dana Lynn and Garrett would love to see every one of you at the wedding, and an all around festive Labor Day weekend in 2023.