Riley and Shakiel first met in October 2019 at a church retreat in New Hampshire. At the time, they were members of two different sister churches, but their paths crossed when they sat at the same dinner table one evening. Riley immediately caught Shakiel's eye, but something else had caught his tongue, because it wasn't until a few days after the retreat that Shakiel asked Riley on a date…via Facebook messenger. (Note to the gentleman: don't do this!) Riley kindly declined the date. Having just moved to Boston, she had other priorities before dating and she also wondered if Shakiel had sent the same message to every woman he met at the retreat. Spoiler alert: he had not! Over the next four years, Riley and Shakiel saw each other from afar at church events. Over time, Riley started to grow curious about Shakiel, who had also never ruled out the possibility of dating her. In October 2023, their paths crossed again at the same retreat almost four years to the day of their initial meeting. Riley absolutely demolished Shakiel in a legendary game of Code Names (just ask the witnesses)! As the evening unfolded and their friends drifted away, they started playing their own version of Bananagrams and found themselves deep in conversation. Eventually Shakiel shared that he was still interested in getting to know Riley if she was open to it. A few weeks later, they had their first date: dinner and darts (Shakiel's turn to beat Riley). Over the next two years, their story continued to unfold through concerts, hammocking, game nights, movie dates, long walks, and meeting each other's families. They enjoyed creating fun games out of everything - ranking Pixar movies, French fry taste tests, racing to see who could name songs faster, and a scavenger hunt that Riley planned for Shakiel's birthday. On June 21, 2025, the only Saturday that did not rain in June, Shakiel proposed to Riley in the Harvard Arboretum, with their friends hiding in the bushes to capture the moment. Their story is one of perfect timing orchestrated by a faithful God who writes far better love stories than we ever could.