We met in the most millennial of ways, intimately….on tinder. Melanie immediately stole all of my attention by sending a sincere and charmingly quirky message, asking me out for drinks. What she didn’t know is this was only my third day on this app. I had just come out with my sexuality and was overwhelmed and very excited to talk to women, let alone, have DRINKS with them. I felt like the protagonist in my own indie coming-of-age film. Melanie suggested that we get drinks at this new Japanese Bar downtown (Shu Shop) and I could already feel the butterflies filling my stomach like a gasp of air in my lungs. What had I gotten myself into? I still remember seeing her for the first time. Her smile felt like dopamine and as she hugged me, her hair smelled sweet, like oranges, and I almost had a panic attack. I pretended to be on a “business call” for the first 5 minutes because she was so warm and beautiful and I had no idea what I wanted to say to impress her. How could I be that cool.... She eased my anxiety by leading me to an intimate spot in the crowded bar. We talked and laughed for 5 hours. Melanie felt like all the romance novels I’d pictured in my head. She was home personified. I didn’t want to leave. I took a bathroom break to collect myself and noticed the chalkboard wall in the bathroom. I wanted so badly to write something to remember this night, but I didn’t want to jinx what we had just started, so I didn’t. A few months later, Mel and I were at dinner and she asked me if I remembered the chalkboard wall in the bathroom on our first date. I smiled and reassured her that I could never forget. She said, “That night I wanted to write, ‘I’m going to marry this girl’ on the wall, but I didn’t want to jinx us, so I didn’t. But I really wish I had because I know I am.”