See you in Ireland!See you in Ireland!

Madison and Conor were both born in the faraway lands of Japan and Ireland, respectively. Their families moved in their early years, both settling in the southern Bay Area in 1999, just 20 miles away from one another but oblivious of their futures being so close. Over the next 20 years, they grew up in each other’s orbits but never crossed paths. Madison went to The King’s Academy from grades 6-12. Many of her friends from school lived down the street from Conor and were on his neighborhood swim team. Madison spent many summer days at that neighborhood pool, where Conor had learned to swim, as her best friend at the time lived next door. Conor and his older brother Alex’s first friends in California were a few years ahead of Madison at King’s. He went with them to see The Polar Express in 2005 at Madison’s local movie theater. Conor’s mother often dragged him to Madison’s self-dubbed stomping grounds - the Valley Fair mall & Santana Row shopping area. They both loved the corn chowder at the cafe by Conor’s house, had strong opinions about the superiority of their local & rivaling donut shops, and both frequented Warriors games as Steph Curry took over the NBA. College called and Madison and Conor went separate ways - her to Los Angeles and he to Baltimore. So when does this story get good? Madison and Conor met during the pandemic - not through dating apps, an accidental bump-into at Trader Joe’s, or any other coincidental meet-cute that would be really helpful for when you’re tasked with writing your love story for your wedding website. They met on a little grid of faces on their computer screens - not as strangers, but as colleagues in October of 2020. Madison had just joined the small tech startup that Conor was working at, and they were on the same team. Conor was, for some reason, tasked with training Madison on her second week. Madison loved his use of funny GIFs over Slack (workplace communication app). Conor told his mother that a ray of sunshine had joined his team. Neither Conor nor Madison missed their remote Friday afternoon social hours (a pandemic thing…) that usually ended with just them saying goodbye over Zoom. In May of 2021, Conor got a new job somewhere else and news of his departure was shared on that Friday call. Madison stayed silent. He wished she hadn’t. Not wanting to cross boundaries and oblivious to how she felt, he left it at that. But she messaged him later that afternoon, to say that she too had just gotten a new job, and was leaving the week after him. They shared congratulations and excitement for one another. Conor shared his personal email with her, as he… “wanted to keep in touch professionally.” She shared her phone number. Phone calls led to walks, which led to San Francisco, and to Ireland, and San Jose, and back to Ireland to tie the knot - with all of you! Thanks for reading. With Love, Conor & Madison