We met in the fall of 2019 on a dating app. Eliza started the conversation and Dave asked if she might like to meet in the real world. She said yes and we decided to go for a drink at The Publick House in Brookline. There, we talked for more than five hours, covering the basics (family stuff, job stuff), and some more hypothetical terrain (how long would it take to die if you were spinning off into space, à la Sandra Bullock in Gravity?). We both left that first date feeling pretty smitten. From there, things went as they do. We went out to movies, ate hibachi on Valentine’s Day, and danced the night away at Soulelujah. Dave lost his voice entirely in the middle of one of these early dates, forcing Eliza to do all the talking, with Dave responding in nods and headshakes. All the while, Eliza remained adamant about keeping things “casual,” despite clear signs our relationship was turning serious. Around this time, the pandemic set in, and we were ordered to stay indoors and avoid physical contact with anyone. This could have spelled the end, but we continued to see each other weekly, holding Friday night dates over Zoom. These dates would start at 6 or 7 in the evening and go until about 4 in the morning. We’d make cocktails and eat snacks and talk about absolutely everything until we realized we should probably get some sleep. Sensing it was unsustainable to hang out exclusively over Zoom, Dave eventually brought up the idea of again connecting in person. Very quickly, those Friday night dates extended through to Monday mornings. In our own cozy little pandemic bubble, we'd lay on the grass in parks in Boston and beyond, binge watch horror movies and stupid romantic reality shows, and make all sorts of fun drinks and foods together, all the while growing closer and closer to each other. Finally, after starting the process of meeting respective friends and families, and expanding our roots into one another's lives, we fell in love. Eliza said it first. Dave was ecstatic to hear it and to say it back. In 2022, we found a place in Watertown and moved in together. Several hundred episodes of Love Is Blind, a few globetrotting vacations, and job changes for each of us followed. In July of 2025, Dave asked Eliza if she wanted to go hang out in Kingsley Park in Cambridge. Unbeknownst to Eliza, Dave had asked a photographer friend of his to “bump into them” there. After exchanging phony pleasantries with the photographer, Dave asked if he’d take their picture. The photographer’s camera went up and Dave got down on one knee, completely shocking Eliza into immediate tears. In his wobbliest voice, Dave asked Eliza to marry him. Eliza said yes. Dave knew she would, but was still relieved. We're so excited now to have you at our wedding to celebrate this amazing love we've found in each other. Let’s party.