it just do.

After having both been in unhealthy/unhappy long-term relationships previously, we were both a little skeptical about dating and disillusioned on the idea of "the one". Alena had just moved to Portland after completing a yearlong internship in Hawaii, and started online dating casually, mostly trying to meet people and make friends in her new town. She went on one date with someone, remembered how discouraging online dating was, and had planned to just give up on it for good... but then she decided to reach out to one more match - Sean Toomey. Sean was similarly discouraged with relationships. He was living in a remote town in SW Washington working in the wilderness with endangered salmon and the dating scene was beyond bleak. When he met Alena, he was caught completely off-guard by the instant and deep connection, the shockingly easy compatibility, and her selfless honesty. As two fairly inward-looking people striving to be socially aware and conscientious, they found common ground in what had inspired their professional aspirations: a desire to be helpful. Alena is a psychologist interested in increasing access to mental health care, especially to rural and under-served communities. Sean is a conservation biologist who works with salmon on the Columbia River. Furthermore, they discovered that they had graduated from the same university the same year and had even lived in the same neighborhood - 500 miles away and a decade prior. The idea that they may have passed by each other or rode the same bus inspired the familiarity that allowed them to get to know each other rather quickly. This pace was accelerated when the world went into lockdown. Having only known each other for a few months, Alena and Sean found themselves sheltering-in-place together, which turned into living together, which turned into being inseparable.