We both agree, had we met when we were in our 20’s, 30’s or even our 40’s we would not have been interested in each other. We weren’t ready for each other. I was still trying to meet a Jewish guy to start a family with and Leith’s life was about being on the road for three to six months at a time touring with various rock bands as part of their lighting crew. Timing is everything and our story starts once upon a time on a dating app called OK Cupid. We both got on the app at the same time. Leith was tired of not having someone to come home to. I was ready to date again, no longer looking for a man to “take care of me” in the financial sense or start a family with. After flagging each other on the app to indicate we were interested in each other, Leith reached out and suggested a video chat on WhatsApp to see if there was any kind of spark between us. Ten minutes later, in a t-shirt, jeans, no makeup and a little resistance I agreed to meet over video chat. The attraction was obvious. So we scheduled our first date, August 29, 2019 at Urbn Pizza. I later learned, Leith is a pizza connoisseur with a preference for New Haven style pizza which is featured at Urbn Pizza. Our date lasted three hours and ended with scheduling another date. I told him I was dating other guys. Undeterred, Leith was a man with a plan; and that plan was to fill my schedule with dates with him so that there was no space for other guys. I on the other hand was in no rush to commit so he waited four dates until he got a good night kiss from me. Despite our vastly different lifestyles and background, we clicked. We found peace, ease and child-like fun in each other’s company. Six months later the country shut down. We spent our Wednesday nights playing online trivia with friends and our weekends together in our own covid bubble. We watched Grateful Dead concerts on TV and documentaries about the Grateful Dead, all the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies, reruns of The Office and The West Wing, Marvel movies and rom-coms. We cooked together, played games, danced in my living room, cried together and laughed together. It was during the pandemic that we learned how to fight without burning our relationship to the ground. We quickly became aware of the things we do to shut down a conversation. We worked at sharing the uncomfortable stuff...our own personal baggage. I asked Leith to read Intellectual Foreplay and to my amazement he agreed to do so. It helped us see and hear each other more clearly than we both were used to in relationships. We are the fortunate ones…the pandemic made our relationship stronger. We love, adore and cherish each other. We are so grateful to have found each other and for the beautiful, ever expanding and growing love we have for each other. We are so excited to have our friends and family join us for this very special event. We know you are all very happy and excited for us as well.