If there was ever a time to believe in the red thread theory, it would be with us. Cole has always had a deep love for video games, and I enjoyed playing them from time to time to unwind. We met through mutual online friends we had both known since 2009, while playing a popular multiplayer game. Although we could have crossed paths many times before, fate seemed to keep us apart for 12 years. Then, in the fall of 2021, everything changed. Our mutual friends came together to create a larger online group, and that’s when Cole and I met. It started us on the path of a truly genuine friendship.

What started as genuine friendship, lead to a desire to learn more about one another. I found myself curious about him—learning about his adoption of Rex and Fives, his passion for fishkeeping, and his sincere search for a life partner. As our friendship deepened, we felt a magnetic pull toward each other. Before long, we couldn’t go a day without either texting, talking on the phone, or playing games together. It became increasingly difficult to say goodnight to each other. Cole took the leap, asking if we could be more than friends. I knew there was more to this, and it could be life changing for the both of us. We met in person Spring of 2022, and instantly felt that our presence in each other’s lives was the missing piece we had been searching for.

Even a distance of over one thousand miles could not keep Marina and I apart for more than a few weeks at a time. After we took the next steps in our relationship and met in person, it was clear to both of us that we needed each other in our lives. For the first few months, we visited each other taking vacation time from work to be with one another. After Marina made two trips to New Jersey, and I made two trips to Florida, the distance was unbearable for both of us. Saying goodbye to the person that I knew was the love of my life and having to wait weeks to see her again was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. So after the 4th visit, I took my Dad's truck with an old dog crate we had and drove eleven hundred miles to help Marina move up to New Jersey so we never had to say goodbye again. It was two long days of moving everything she owned into either a storage unit or a U-Haul trailer, and a very long day for Marina's two cats Mina and Serena, but we made the trip back up to New Jersey and started the next chapter in our relationship living in our condo in Hillsborough.

This next step all started with a date night idea that Marina came up with. Marina and I went out and found a few items as small gifts to give to each other based on what we knew about each other like favorite color, favorite snacks, or things we could do together. We were then going to give each other these gifts under a meteor shower that we were going to watch together. I gathered my gifts, threw some blankets and pillows into the back of my pickup, and we drove out away from the lights of our town to find a place to lay in the bed of my truck and watch the shooting stars. After a little stargazing, we decided to trade gifts and the final gift was "something we could do together." This is where Marina asked me to spend the rest of my life with her. She got me a ring, black with actual meteorite in the band, and under the stars asked me to marry her. It took me a moment to realize that this was real, that this perfect woman that I have been living with for almost a year wants me to be her husband. But after realizing that this was, in fact real, I said yes a million times and we went from dating, to engaged. My proposal went a lot less smooth than Marina's. Our friend invited us down to his beach house for the weekend and I knew that this would be the perfect place to ask her to be my wife. I had the perfect ring, I just needed the perfect spot to ask! The entire drive down to the shore was nerve-racking. Even though I already knew the answer, I wanted this to be just as special as when Marina asked me under the stars. So after tricking her into keeping her dress on as we walked to the beach, I stopped her right after we got onto the sand and got down on one knee. I was so nervous that I forgot everything that I had planned to say to her, silly as it is being that we were already engaged, but I managed to put some of my feelings for her into words and slip the ring on her finger after she said yes!