Like most modern dating stories, we met online. Unlike most online dating stories we were about 7,683 miles from each other. Amaru was deployed in Djibouti, Africa, and Steph was in St. Paul, MN. Amaru had volunteered for deployment as he was wanting to better himself and explore the world. Steph was working as a nurse and attending graduate school. They both were on parallel journeys of self-growth. It started with a simple greeting, and led to these two talking, video calling, and texting every day for seven months, until finally meeting up in person.