Lisa and Hei first met in the fall of 2002 in a fencing class at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where they were both students. What began as a shared class quickly turned into a real connection. Before long, they were spending time together outside of school, practicing fencing and enjoying each other’s company. Just as their friendship was beginning to grow, life pulled them in different directions. Hei was accepted into a fashion design exchange program in Florence, Italy, and the two said goodbye after sharing one especially memorable summer day at the beach in East Hampton, where Lisa was nannying. Even from afar, they stayed close through handwritten letters and postcards while Hei continued his time abroad, eventually extending his studies through an exchange at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Back in New York, Lisa graduated from FIT and began her career with a jewelry company in NYC, helping the small business expand to South and East Hampton, Palm Beach, and trunk shows around the country. Hei returned to New York in 2006, settled in the city, and began his own career in fashion design. Over the years, their lives continued to unfold in parallel. In 2009, Lisa left the fashion industry to pursue her master's and later her doctorate in Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine. Through career changes, life transitions, and many chapters in between, Lisa and Hei remained close friends, weaving in and out of each other’s lives but never quite moving beyond friendship. Then, in 2019 and 2020, following the end of significant relationships in both their lives, they reconnected once again — this time as friends helping each other through some of life’s hardest moments. What they built in that season was steady, honest, and deeply supportive. In August 2025, a trip to Italy changed everything. As friends, they returned to Florence — the very city that had once taken Hei away. Spending day after day wandering its beautiful streets, they discovered a love between them that could no longer be ignored. In that magical full-circle moment, everything seemed to align. When they returned to New York, they decided to try being together romantically — and it was even better than either of them could have imagined. What grew was a partnership rooted in years of friendship, mutual respect, and deep love. Hei fit seamlessly into life with Eagle, and Simba welcomed Lisa with open paws. Lisa loves to say that Florence was the city that took Hei away from her in 2003 — and the city where they finally fell in love. Hei likes to say that if they had gotten together back in 2002 or 2003, they might not have stayed together all these years. It seems they both needed time to live, grow, and become the best versions of themselves before finding the future they were always meant to share.