It all began one day at Sunday School drop-off at Herzl Ner-Tamid. Hannah and Eliana (Ceremony Officiant & MOH) were carpooling that day and were next in line, when Stacey Rudee (Godmother of the Bride) says: “look girls, there’s Max Franklin, the cutest boy in the first grade!” to which Hannah and Eliana looked at each other and in unison, replied, “EWWWWW”. Okay, so maybe this isn’t a story of love at first sight? Hannah was one of the first in the class to have her Bat Mitzvah and it was, as many family members will remember, an epic weekend at Camp Solomon Schechter. Before the night of the Dance Party, Eliana approached Max to ask him if he would slow dance *gasp* with Hannah for the first song, as any best friend and future wedding officiant would do. He agreed! And so, Hannah’s first ever slow dance was with none-other than her future Husband (see picture evidence in "Photos of Us").

Unbeknownst to Max and Hannah, their paths would cross again in college. Hannah went to Atlanta to play basketball at Emory University and Max played tennis at Washington University in St. Louis - not only are the schools in the same athletic conference, but they are rivals in their respective sports! Hannah travelled to St. Louis every year to play WashU and Max would usually come watch the game to say hi to a friend from home. It wasn’t until Junior year that things started to heat up… Hannah had just lost a close game to WashU and wasn’t in a good mood...until she saw Max. They spent 45 minutes talking after the game and found out they would both be going on Birthright trips to Israel this summer. Hannah extended her trip in Israel to stay with Eliana who was living in Jerusalem that summer. Max’s birthright trip was just getting started and coordinated with Hannah to meet up at the Jerusalem shuk (outdoor market). Hannah had to leave that day to get to Tel Aviv to catch her flight home and was planning to take the last bus out of Jerusalem before Shabbat. Little did Max know, Eliana had to schlep all of Hannah’s luggage to the train station for her so Hannah would be able to meet him- all that for 30 minutes in the Shuk eating fish and chips with the tennis buddies (including Hirsh - Groomsman). Max stayed in Israel that summer and started chatting with Hannah more frequently despite the time difference. When Max returned to Seattle there were only 2 weeks before they each return to school for their Senior years. And finally (with a little nudge from Julia Zook) Max asked Hannah to hang out and so, they watched Friends and canoodled on the couch - and to this day that remains one of their favorite activities!

Back at their respective colleges, they talked every day and got to know each other - who they had become since childhood, their likes and dislikes, their hopes and ambitions, what they valued and believed in. Over the first semester of senior year, despite the distance, they grew closer and closer, highly anticipating winter break when they would both be in Seattle. Finally, on Christmas Day Max joined Hannah’s family and the Rudees for Chinese food and a movie (Wolf of Wall Street - now that’s an awkward opening scene to see with your future Mother-in-Law!). That evening, Max went back to Hannah’s place and they ended up spending hours into the night talking until Max summoned the courage to say, "So, um...are we dating?" To which Hannah replied with a big smile, Yes!

The rest is history - as they say! After 4 months of long distance, they decided that was all they could take and decided to narrow their job searches to San Francisco, the second best city on the West Coast. They also decided that the best way to get Hannah’s two-door VW Cabrio convertible from ATL to Seattle was to road trip across the country. What a way to test a new relationship - 2 weeks, just the two of them, cramped in a tiny car stuffed with all of their belongings - they highly recommend it! They went to the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, Denver and the Rockies, Big Bear Lake, they drove through a lightning storm, went up the CA 101 where they (Hannah) got a flat tire, and along the way they met many members of each other's extended family! Once settled in San Francisco, they started their careers, explored the fun city, and made new life-long friends! They loved taking trips out of the city, to Napa and Sonoma, Sausalito, Tahoe, Lodi, Big Sur, and Yosemite. After 2 years of living with roommates, they wised up and moved in together and promptly forgot how they ever managed to live separately.

Just before the 5th anniversary of that Christmas night in Seattle, Max and Hannah went on a last minute trip to Yosemite to hike Cloud’s Rest - a 16 miler with breathtaking views of Half Dome and the entire park...for the rest of the story go to our "Photos of Us" page and scroll down to click on "The Proposal Story" picture :)