Rita and Phil met in 6th grade. Phil was a drama nerd, and was always too dorky for Rita, who was way cooler on the Math Team. Phil finally grew out of his dorkiness and worked up the courage to ask Rita to Homecoming in 10th grade, where they danced the night away in the parking lot of the Rockville Civic Center to "Lady in Red". However, they stayed close friends throughout high school because Rita was not allowed to date. Both went to University of Maryland, College Park, but went their own ways in college and lost touch. Fast forward 8 years to 2015, when Rita came home from residency in North Carolina for the holidays and had a middle school friends dinner reunion and met Phil again. She was not in a place to be dating anyone 6 hours away with her busy schedule. But Phil was relentlessly persistent. Soon Rita realized that the chemistry in her conversations with Phil was undeniable. They went on dates, traveled together, went to church together, and found forever in one another. The rest is history.