May 2019. I was waiting for a friend at McKinley Tavern, wearing my favorite Flyers hat. Andrew was just finishing his shift. He walks over to me and says "So... you're a Flyers fan eh?" I just said "yeah" and continued to scroll through my phone. I didn’t pay much attention to him, because I just assumed that I would never see him again. Weirdly enough, every time I went there, he was there, catching him towards the end of his shift or right as he was clocking in. He asked me to hang out and I was down. I had just moved back from LA and the majority of my friends had either moved away or were busy growing their families. For me, I needed a distraction from my grandfather's declining health than anything else. Our first date, all I can tell you, was that he was mansplaining the Left-Wing Lock to me, props and all at Nick's Roast Beef (rip). We hung out a few times after that and one night, while watching the Flyers, he looked over at me, in between spitting sunflower seed shells and said "You don't want to like me but I know you like me" and laughed. I was irritated, haha, because he was 1000% correct. I kept ignoring my feelings for him for a while. We had both talked about no labels, keeping it casual since he had also moved back from San Jose. It was easier that way. It bothered me how much he knew me in the few short months we had known each other. It had been about a month and a half of "just being friends" when he left for an opportunity in SoCal. I thought, "FANTASTIC! Out of sight out of mind!" Nope. Not Andrew... Mr. "I'm Going to stay rent free in your brain" The distance actually played a major part in us getting to know each other better and building our support system within each other. We laughed, we talked about serious things, had our own inside jokes, we even tried to watch a movie at the same time together (I can't remember the exact movie, but I know it featured Jim Carrey). One of my favorite memories of our time apart, was when we watched the mid-summer classic together and we drafted our home run derby team. The team that had the most runs would buy a round of drinks when he came back to Philly in the next couple weeks. August 11, 2019, which happens to be our anniversary and also my grandfather's birthday, he came back from Fullerton, ready to cash in on the round of drinks he had won. I knew he REALLY liked me when he had told everyone including his own mom that he was arriving on August 12. He came right to my apartment ready for a date. Actually that week we went on 5 dates. He didn't have to tell me he loved me. I knew that he was in love with me when I had an early morning flight to LA and he volunteered to take me to the airport by 4:30 AM. Kismet. It's rather crazy that while he was living in San Jose, CA., and I was living in Los Angeles, CA., we were in the same places at the same time unknowingly. I had gone up there to see the Flyers Vs. Sharks, he was there. He and I were at the same Dodgers vs. Phillies games and Kings vs. Flyers games. We are 90% sure we also were at the same Ducks vs. Flyers. (Unfortunately the Angels did not play the Phillies during his time in SJ). Fast forward to now, we're cashing in on Andrew always telling me "we're meant to be". Each and every time, I would roll my eyes, laugh it off, or brush it off. But now, here we are... getting married. So... for the record, I will only say this once, yes honey, you were right.