All it took was a message from a Marine in California to a College girl at UAlbany. We had always known who one another was– Mike had been friends with my older brother Zack. But it was when my little brother Jordan, left for the marines that led Mike to reach out to me. What followed was endless banter and late-night conversations. However, those conversations came to a halt when Mike was deployed to Yemen. He didn’t ask me to wait for him, but it was too late for that. So when his boots finally hit American soil and we met for drinks at Lark Tavern, I knew that this was it. And well the rest is history.