For those of you who may not know, Liam and Joanna grew up on the same street. Although Liam may not remember, they had some playdates growing up but lost touch as the years passed. Fast forward 15 years, Joanna was in college and Liam was working full time as a plumber when the Pantazopoulos family had a plumbing crisis and called Darren and Liam to take care of it. Liam and Joanna admired each other from a far for months but were both too nervous to ask each other out. A few more years passed with only minimal contact. In 2021, Liam and Joanna were both living at home again during the pandemic and both driving their parents a little nuts. One spring day, Darren and Laura stopped to chat with Billy and Stella, and up came the topic of their kids. Liams sisters, Shannon and Lindsay were buying houses and getting married and Christina and Joanna were single and living at home. Stella, joked “you guys know any single men to set up our girls” and Laura responded “there’s a great boy just up the street.” Stella asked “who?” And Laura responded with “Liam!” Stella immediately responded with “Well, have him ask Joanna out for a drink.” Later that day, Stella and Billy immediately told Joanna about the encounter and she had butterflies thinking about Liam asking her out. On the other hand, Darren and Laura forgot to tell Liam this conversation happened for 9 days. Joanna sweat for 2 weeks thinking Liam wasn’t interested after that conversation, until one day she got a text asking her out, which she didn’t see or respond to for 3 hours. It was Liam’s turn to sweat! When she finally saw his message she worried about what to say when Stella said “do you want to go out with him?! Then just respond yes I’d love to.” And as we say, the rest is history. One week later, Liam and Joanna went out for the first time and both had the best first date of their lives. There wasn’t a dull awkward moment. They were immediately hooked to each other and within a few short months were both in love. It’s crazy to think those two kids that lived 20 houses apart from each other for over 20 years, turned out to be soulmates. They’re pretty lucky their parents talked that afternoon and set their love story into motion. Thanks, Mom and Dad