Mac and Ash's story began in 2020 where they met at a party that Mac's football friends were throwing and quickly hit it off. They then exchanged numbers and made plans to go on a date that next week. Well it turns out God had different plans and that week the entire cadet wing was sent to their respective homes for the foreseeable future due to a little thing called Covid-19. Mac went home to Texas, and Ash went home to New Zealand! 7,392 miles (11,902.99 km) apart and a 18 hour time difference. For anyone in the beginning stages of forming a relationship this would usually be a death sentence. But not for these two. What started slowly with a "Hey" here and a "How are you doing there", quickly turned into meaningful late night and, most cases, early morning conversations on the phone. This would last until the call for all cadets to come back to the Academy months later. They were both excited to see each other again for the first time in months. However when Mac arrived at the Academy he popped positive for Covid-19 and was sent to quarantine for 2 weeks. The two were devastated and thought maybe this was someone's way of telling them that they were just not meant to be. They didn't listen. The two pushed through and finally, after months of getting to know each other from half away around the world on a tiny phone screen, Mac and Ash went on that first date and the rest is history.