We very serendipitously met playing indoor volleyball in Toronto. Lidia: “My friend Kylie was trying to convince me to play because they needed another girl on the team – and I said, there was no way I was driving into Toronto from Oshawa once a week to play volleyball. Then all of a sudden, I was on a group email and on the team!” Steve: “My friend Brian signed up for the league, but just before the season started, he hurt his back skiing. So he asked if I could sub for him on a team of mainly strangers. Little did I know that what I thought was a week or two commitment would end up being a full-time addition to the team.” After the first game Steve wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to commit to playing full-time, but an encouraging email from Lidia (who pretty much wanted him to stay on the team because he was the team’s only decent blocker at the net) was the first step in changing both their lives. We soon started emailing each other back and forth almost every day after that… at which point Steve’s decision to stay on the team became pretty easy. Our first date came a little later that season when we attended a Raptors game together, and the rest, as they say, is history!

We went to Poland and Greece for a 2.5-week vacation in September 2019. On September 11, we were off to hike “Kościelec”, the 2nd highest mountain in the High Tatras which is the mountainous region in Poland where Lidia’s family maintains deep roots to this day. The day was perfect; the temperature was just right, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was a challenging hike, but as we always have, we supported and encouraged each other every step of the way. In the end it was a five-hour hike (one way!) to get to the 2,155 meter high peak. When we got to the top, the views were spectacular! There on top of the mountain, Steve proposed, and Lidia said yes with tears in her eyes. We are so excited to celebrate this next chapter of our lives with you.