In April 2018, some mutual friends decided to introduce Monique & Diran at an annual weekend in Foxwoods. Diran had known who Monique was, since she was best friends with his cousin, and had been to a few of his family events. Despite Diran being present at those aforementioned family events, Monique had no clue Diran existed. After spending some time together with Monique at Foxwoods, Diran thought this could have some potential. He took a picture of Monique with their friend Ara, and then smoothly asked Monique for her number “...so I can send both of you the picture.” He sent Monique the picture, which she never acknowledged. He then sent her a handful of other texts over the next few days, which she never acknowledged. He also texted her two weeks later to wish her a happy birthday, which she never acknowledged… Obviously, there was some sort of network error which disabled delivery of his texts to her phone. Just over a month later, Monique was in New York City to attend a wedding. Coincidentally, the bride was one of Diran’s cousins. Diran was in church for the rehearsal when he saw Monique walk in. He started walking towards her to say hello, and as if she was reenacting the historic escape from Alcatraz, Monique disappeared from the church (she would later confess that she saw Diran walking towards her and grabbed her suitcase and ran). Well, Monique’s lucky streak of avoiding Diran ended the next day, when she walked into the reception and occupying the seat next to hers at her table was Diran! He finally had an opportunity to turn on his charm and win her over. By the end of the night, she had actually created a contact for him in her phone, and they kept in touch until he took her out to a Red Sox game for their first date. Five years have gone by since that first date, and together they’ve traveled more than Diran had in his entire life (thanks to Monique!), eaten their way through every place they’ve been or lived, and shared one of the most important things that they value in their relationship: incessant laughter. In between traveling to see each other over the years, they’ve loved meeting new family and friends, going to concerts to see Phil Collins, Earth Wind & Fire, Gypsy Kings, and Above & Beyond (just to name a few), and attended countless sporting events (both New York & Boston!). Lucky for Diran, the obvious network error from 5 years earlier turned into a formal contact, and eventually a social media profile & cell phone background photo change, which by 2023 standards meant they were in a serious relationship. Their future plans are clear cut: raise their family with the same faith, love, and humility they both experienced growing up, continue finding the most delicious pizza & dumplings wherever they go, and set the world record for watching the most reruns of The Office.