Under the auspices of a good cause, the Loyola College Chimes were offering serenades at the school's Relay for Life event. As with everything else they did, it was mostly to look cool in front of girls. No one looked or felt cooler than Jon, who had his solo requested by a group of classmates for their friend Meryl. She mostly felt embarrassed, but as far as meet-cutes go, it was a good one.

As fate would have it, we ended up living across the hall from one another as sophomores. Jon played hockey and watched The Wire with his roommates. Meryl played soccer, made friends, and watched The Wire with his roommates, much to her chagrin. They fell in love, went to New Zealand, and celebrated nearly every collegiate milestone together before leaving Loyola.

After college, Meryl went to Thailand and earned her Master's in social work at New York University. Jon started writing stories and never stopped. But neither was ever truly off the other's mind, and we reconnected to start enjoying our successes together. Meryl moved to Baltimore in July 2016, into the same cozy Fells Point home they now share with their handsome cat Tom, and where Jon proposed just over two years later.