Ann and John met online in April 2016 through Coffee Meets Bagel. He chose her because she had a great smile and they had 12 friends in common. She chose him because her bridesmaid Lily thought that she should give him a second chance after she had passed on him the first time. During their first date, John showed Ann their 12 mutual friends on his phone, and they found out his sister Lily was one of Ann's college ministers. Ann had even attended Lily's wedding, but somehow she and John had never met. For the rest of the date they talked about other mutual friends and shared experiences, and thought the world was indeed small. At the time, Ann was struggling at work as her startup was running low on funds, and she was often distracted during their dates. John patiently persisted and set up fun dates where they bonded over their love of music, writing, and Starcraft. In mid-May, Ann was surprised to find a handwritten card at her mailbox with an origami bird inside. He had written her an encouraging note quoting Matthew 6:26: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" He also invited her to a picnic by the Charles River. The card made Ann pause in the midst of her work stress, as she saw a glimpse of John's character and compassion. As they watched the sunset over the river, Ann gave John her undivided attention for the first time. They resolved to keep in touch as she was set to go to China on vacation. While in the Yellow Mountains, she put the card John had given her on the windowsill of her hotel room, and sent a photo of it to him. Every day they talked on WeChat for an hour and wrote emails to each other about meaningful and challenging times they had gone through in their lives. It was then they both realized they had something special together. The day Ann came back to Cambridge, they decided to enter a committed relationship together.

102 meals eaten together 32 miles biked together 4,798 miles traveled together 6 friends' weddings attended 46 relatives met 4 museums visited 3,012,683 experience points earned in Borderlands 452 meteors seen together 5 visits to Life Alive 13,038 Facebook messages exchanged 13 cards written 8 movies watched 3 concerts seen 4 babies held * most numbers approximate

John had kept an engagement ring for three weeks but couldn't find a good outdoor spot in the Massachusetts winter. Finally an opportune window seemed to appear on John's birthday, March 16. Ann had already booked dinner at a nice restaurant in Harvard Square, so John decided to pop the question on a bench near the footbridge crossing into Harvard Square overlooking the Charles River. Unfortunately, just a few days before the big day, four inches of icy snow fell over Boston. John shoveled a small area around the bench and decorated the railing with tulips (Ann's favorite flowers) and ribbons, and then drove out to pick her up from work. His groomsman Ning was in town and brought John's guitar out to the bench just a few minutes before Ann and John arrived at dusk. Together they walked to the bench over the icy snow, and John sang her one of her favorite songs, Photograph (by Ed Sheeran, not Nickelback), even though he forgot a few of the lyrics. Afterwards they celebrated at the restaurant with champagne and a seafood dinner. Sometimes, seeing the ring on Ann's finger makes both of them pause and consider what a miracle it is when two people love each other.