"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."

The following stories were written from each perspective independently from one another.

In May 2024, Karim set out on an epic quest to find "THE ONE." His journey led him to a Singles Retreat in Virginia, the first of its kind. He arrived late and unsure whether his quest would succeed, but the moment he stepped into a room full of people, his eyes were drawn to one woman in particular. He thought to himself, "Could this be her… the one I've been looking for?" He didn't approach her right away. Later that day, during a speed dating activity, fate stepped in. Lidia was the very first person Karim was paired with. In just a minute or two, Karim was intrigued and when the timer ended, he said, "That's way too short, we need like an hour," which Lidia found charming and hilarious. Afterwards, Karim asked if she wanted to play a game together. Lidia pointed to Coup, one of her favorites. Karim won two games in a row, impressing her and setting the tone for the fun and playful dynamic they would continue to share. Throughout the retreat, they grew closer and built a genuine connection. On the final day, Karim was sad to say goodbye, unsure when they would see each other again, and gave Lidia a big hug. What felt like an ending turned out to be only the beginning. From that moment on, they talked constantly. Karim visited Lidia in Canada, and Lidia visited Karim in New Jersey. They went on countless adventures, laughed endlessly, and fell deeply in love. Over time, their bond only grew stronger, and they knew they had found something truly special. Karim's quest was a success. He found "THE ONE," and together, Karim and Lidia began the greatest adventure of their lives.

It all started at a round of speed dating at a retreat in Virginia on May 10, 2024. After 30-60 seconds of "What's your name?" "Where are you from?" "What do you do?" the speed dating round was over and someone started yelling at everyone to switch to the next person. At this moment, Lidia heard Karim mutter under his breath, "Oh - we need like an hour." This is the first comment that caught her attention. Later that evening, there was some free time, and Lidia was nonchalantly bored - wandering aimlessly, seeing if there was anything interesting to do - and then she saw it. The Board Game Table: a table with about 5 brand new, untouched board games, some fully sealed. Lidia was momentarily excited, because she loves board games, but then that excitement immediately dissipated, because she realized that no one was probably as interested as she was in these board games. If this was a movie and Lidia was a cartoon character, you would have seen her eyes widen with the sparkle of dreams and promises, and then immediately deflate. It was at this moment that Karim entered the vicinity, seemingly spotted the internal struggle that was going on in Lidia's mind as she stared longingly at the board game table, and said "Hey - we should play a game." "Really?!" she said, like a child who was just promised ice cream. "Yeah!" he said, excitedly. EXCITEDLY? Was someone as excited as she was about board games? In what world was this? This is the second comment that caught her attention. Then, suddenly, one of the board games caught her eye. Coup: the ultimate game of bluffing and deception - her favourite board game, which her brother Nagi (also an avid board game fan) had taught her many years ago. Suddenly, her eyes lit up again. "Omg!" she said. "What?" he said. "Coup. I can't believe they have Coup. The best board game ever!" "Really?" he said. "Yeah!" she said. "We should play it!" he said. "Really?" she said. "Yeah!" he said. It was all just "reallys" and "yeahs" - a lot of disbelief going on. And so they did exactly that. What she didn't know, was that she created a monster. In just the first round, Lidia made one bad decision, and Karim went on to win the round - and many others. He was quiet, observant, and non-combative. He decided not to use deception and played with full honesty, which caused other players to challenge him and lose for being wrong. Lidia, being competitive and secretly feeling like the master of the game (having played it for many years now), was equally impressed as she was irritated. The group went on to love the game so much that they played that night and the following night for several hours, becoming more competitive and invested each time, with many alliances forged and friendships rocked. They also formed a group bond/dynamic and stayed up the following night for several hours discussing deep subjects and challenges related to career and faith, which ultimately allowed them to learn more about each other. In those discussions, Karim and Lidia had many "side conversations" for extra clarifications regarding the group discussion, during which Lidia felt like she could go on various tangents with him for hours - much like his comment at speed dating. On the last day, as Karim and Lidia were putting their luggage in one of their Coup-group-friends' cars to leave the retreat, Karim said, "I love how your eyeliner matches your lipstick, which matches your coat, which matches your bag, which matches your shoes." Since Lidia knew that no guy would notice a girl's eyeliner colour (or even know it came in colours) unless he was very attentive, and since she herself had not noticed the extent of her accidental matching that day, this is when she "knew" that there is "something," pending further investigation, per her analytical mind. This is the third comment that caught her attention. From this moment on, many more comments caught her attention, until there were too many to count. The rest is history :)

"Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it."