Gallery
Jamel and Marie met on the dating app Bumble 🐝 in October 2020.
This was during the lockdown era when New York City was still a ghost town.
Our first date was co-watching Disney's Coco while video chatting over Zoom! Subsequent dates included walking in Riverside Park, baking at Marie's apartment, and a particularly memorable time eating bagels in sub-freezing temperatures with a wind chill, because there was still no indoor dining!
As the world reopened, we merged our friend groups and met each other's families. Both social butterflies, soon we considered each other's friends our own. In 2022, we got our own apartment and put our shared artistic proclivities to use decorating it. In July 2023, Jamel proposed while on a road trip along the Pacific Northwest Coast. (Ironically, the first and only time in all these years when one of us caught covid!)
We forged our relationship in some pretty crazy circumstances, but our superpower is that we always keep each other smiling.
When Jamel proposed (I'm so happy, you can't even tell how sick I am! 😂)
Celebrating our moms, Shirley and Karren, on a Mother's Day brunch cruise in 2023
Rooftop wine on the fourth of July
That time we killed Halloween with our Gen Z costumes, captured by our friend Zach (he also took our engagement photos!)
We built this gingerbread house from scratch in December 2020. We rolled out the dough right there on that tiny coffee table!
Jamel's 34th birthday, our coming-out-of-quarantine social debut! Marie's friend Mia snaps the photo while Jamel's friend Terry cameos in the background.
Jamel's sister, Kiara, took this polaroid of us the first time I met his family, at his mom's birthday dinner in the city.
The moment Marie introduced Jamel to her dad, amazingly caught on camera!
Celebrating New Year's 2024, with good friends and our adorable baby kitten
For all the days along the way
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