The term “six-degrees of separation” could not be any truer in our lives! Both Cardinal Mooney High School graduates, I was a freshman when Mart was a senior. He went off to Auburn University (WAR DAMN) and 3 years later, so did I! I loved my time at Auburn, but after my freshman year of college, I moved to Bogota, Colombia to complete my MD. I was back home in Sarasota for the holiday season in December 2016, & thanks to a couple of mutual friends, we both ended up (in the same place and the same time) at the Venice community center for a charity event benefitting the Loveland center, a great organization whose mission is to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities live their lives as independently as possible. Mart was invited last minute and "didn't have time to ask a date" (or so he claims) and pure coincidence had us sitting next to each other at the table, with not 1, not 2, but 4 other couples! Thankfully, we hit it off laughing and talking the whole evening. Later, he walked me to my car and said goodnight..without asking for my number. Luckily, he messaged me on Facebook later that night and we went out. Soon we were inseparable & we decided the long distance was worth giving a try! 3 months later he was on a plane coming to visit me in Bogota & here we are!