20 Years and Counting

It was the year 2001. The Granata's were on a road trip from Florida to DC to see the sites. Her mom, having been best friends with Nancy Matrone since childhood, thought what a great idea to make a pit stop at the Matrone's and get some fireworks and crabs in during their 4th of July adventure. Rachel and Mike initially met as measly 10 and 11 year olds (the photo above is of us hanging out on his parent’s dock). After the trip they never saw each other again except in family photos hanging on their respective fridges. In 2017, Rachel was in her last 3 month internship for physical therapy school in Baltimore, MD. She did not have many close friends in the vicinity. With the Matrone family living not too far from Baltimore, Rachel's mom suggested to her "Hey why don't you get Mike's number? The Matrone's are good people!" Finally, six months later, when Rachel decided to stay in Baltimore, she got out that number and sent Mike a text..."Hey this is Rachel Granata...our parents know each other..." They met up for a pizza at Pub Dog in Baltimore and the rest is history!