Cynthia’s version: I had resigned myself to the fact that I would likely soon be living out my days at a convent when I decided to check my online dating profile for potential suitors. Dan’s profile struck me as friendly, fun, and funny. Not only did he have cool pictures of him in Mexico but his profile boasted that he was fluent in sarcasm, a language that I was all too familiar with. I was equally impressed by his picture atop of Mt. Whitney so I “hearted” that picture on his profile. Not too long after, he messaged me a warm message asking about the dog in my dating profile pictures. Since he asked about one of the most important beings in my life, my “doghter,” I couldn’t NOT write back right away. Our conversation flowed easily after that initial message, and we soon made plans to meet up for dinner and drinks in Long Beach. On July 22, 2021, he drove up to meet me at Padre, and I walked over. The rest is history, and the dog he asked about when he first messaged me is now OUR “doghter” and soon-to-be ring bearer. Dan’s version: I had created an online dating profile in the hopes of meeting someone I could really connect with, but I just never felt anything real or meaningful. I was slowly but surely losing interest, until one fateful day when someone had messaged me, who was probably just outside my selected radius. Her name was Cynthia. She liked my Mt. Whitney picture, which I was quite proud of. I checked out her profile, read her comments, looked at her pictures, and saw that little glimmer of hope that she might be the one. From her pictures I could already tell how beautiful she was (and still is!) and how much she liked the outdoors. She had a picture with her dog, Scout. If there's one thing I knew...ask about the dog. So I commented back and asked her about her dog. And she replied!! We had some great texting rapport, and after a bit I thought it would be great to meet in person. So I asked her out and offered to meet up in Long Beach for some tacos and margs, for which she agreed and had a great recommendation. So on July 22, 2021, I drove an hour to meet her at Padre, in Long Beach, and the rest is history.