Lydia and I both went to Calvin College. We never talked once. Between chapel services and a screening of Andy Samberg’s “Hot Rod” in my dorm room, we had been in the same place at the same time, but that’s it. In September of 2019, I had just moved back to Grand Rapids after living in Colorado for three years. One of my college friends, Nat, was back in town for the weekend and asked if I wanted to get coffee. That Saturday morning, Nat’s friend Lydia dropped them off at the Early Bird and then met up with her mom at the Eastown Street Fair. After coffee, Nat suggested we go find Lydia and her mom. We found them, where Lydia and I chatted and made small talk for a little bit. You know how it goes when you meet someone new. Within the next few days, Lydia and I had become friends on social media and were having the normal interactions (talking about music we both liked and being very happy when we found out the other liked Muppet Treasure Island). I was definitely interested in asking her on a date, but I was also extremely nervous. We seemed to have a lot in common, but I’d only met Lydia once and maybe she just thought of me as Nat’s friend. I decided to wait it out and see what would happen. In mid-October, I got the following message from Lydia on Instagram: "Hey Joel! I know this might seem out of left field because you’ve only met me one time as a friend of Nat’s... but you seem really cool and like we might have some things in common, so I wanted to ask if you’d ever want to go out with me for a coffee or a drink sometime. If you’re not interested, no worries! Seriously. 🙂" I almost threw my phone across Barnes & Noble. I quickly sent a message back saying that yes, I was DEFINITELY interested in going on a date. That Friday (October 18th), we went on our first date at Brewery Vivant. We ended up staying there for 4.5 hours, and things have been getting better ever since!