We were introduced through a mutual connection—Shahzad’s family friend and Parissa’s nursing and NP school friend, Rutuja. About seven months before we met, Rutuja had tried to set us up, but the timing wasn’t quite right. However, when Parissa first saw Shahzad’s photo, she had an immediate, gut feeling that he was the one, even though they hadn’t met yet. When we finally talked, it was effortless. We hit it off instantly, chatting for hours like teenagers, until 3 in the morning. It felt like we couldn’t get enough of each other. Although we had planned our first date for the weekend, Shahzad couldn’t wait that long, so we decided to make our first date a run on the treadmill at Orangetheory instead. Since then, we've been inseparable and have started our own little family with our beautiful Simone. We feel incredibly blessed to have crossed paths, fallen in love, and built this life together.