Alan & Lia met through modern means – On the internet – which may not qualify as a traditional “meet cute,” until you consider that this was love in the time of coronavirus. It was April 7th, 2020 & the world was in full blow lockdown, TP & hand sanitizer scavenging mode. So early into the pandemic that mask mandates weren’t even in debate at this point, because unlike today, the only folks with masks lying around were healthcare workers & superheroes (which the world has since been reminded are pretty much the same thing). Despite the chaos going on around them, even a global pandemic would not stop these two from finding each other. In fact, the social isolation only allowed them to get to know each other at warp speed (in COVID-time as they might tell you). What drew Alan to Lia was their common world views & priorities. She was introspective, like he was, ambitious yet not engrossed in the rat race & had an innate ability to care & care deeply for others - her cute face didn’t hurt either. The conversation that ensued was both intriguing & exuberant. They took their time getting to know each other from afar interacting through messages or video chat for weeks & learning as much about each other as they could. Alan was patient & understanding of Lia’s health concerns as the world was roiled in uncertainty about the future. When Alan shared his love of cycling, Lia offered up that she had an old “broken” beach cruiser. If only it worked since cabin fever had officially set in. Before she could give it another thought, Alan was on the case, he’d investigated, diagnosed & ordered the parts needed to get it back in working order for her. The date was set & when it arrived, Lia left her clunker of a bike on her front lawn. Not long after, from the safe distance of her bedroom window, she saw Alan in person for the first time ride up on his sleek road bike (in his tight bike shorts no less!). He effortlessly flipped her bulky bike on its handles and in minutes had the tubes switched out, tires pumped up and Lia’s mind blown. This was the first of many unbelievably kind things Alan did in their early courtship - When Lia mentioned that she had just about made it through her last case of beloved Topo Chico (a refreshing obsession that they both shared) a new case magically appeared on her front doorstep. It was clear, Alan wanted to be near her even if he couldn’t be with her and Lia wanted the same. They did all this from a safe distance until… One day Lia asked her future hubby to join her for a date night on her back patio (large sliding glass door would be only slightly cracked open of course) so that they could have a way to celebrate his 32nd birthday together. A socially distant party for 2 where she pulled out all of the stops – from décor, to his favorite foods, to ice cold Topo Chico (she had plenty now thanks to him)– he had made an impact on her & she wanted him to feel as special on his birthday as he was making her feel every day. Lia remembers admiring Alan through her front window when he arrived. The other times they’d visited it was brief with minimal interaction, but this felt different, this felt serious. She motioned for him to go around the side of her townhouse to the decorated patio. And in the maybe 60 second walk he made, Lia reflected on how considerate Alan was, how he listened to her attentively, that he wanted to help her accomplish her goals, that he believed in her. She found herself almost intuitively thinking of their future together. She was struck by this feeling that they would have an exceptional one and of course she was right, in fact, she was Mrs. Always Right and she had found her Mr. Right. From there, the rest was history as they say, they both cracked open the metaphorical sliding glass door to their hearts more and more with each interaction and the two quickly realized that they just could not live without each other. So they decided not to!