Kae and Wythe met when they both reached for the last croissant at a bakery. The owner smiled and said, “I could cut that in half, or you could just share… everything… forever.” And that was it! Kae and Wythe’s hearts started beating fast, their pupils dilated into heart shapes, and cartoon butterflies whirled into view, wagging their white-gloved insect-fingers in time to an unheard slow jazz number. The owner’s eyebrows jumped off her head, and she called the cartoon pest inspector. The lonely croissant sat up and blubbered tears of thanks at having been forgotten… Just kidding! Kae and Wythe met on the dating app Hinge. Kae told Wythe that she would not kiss him on the first date. This quickly became a theme: Kae is a straight shooter. She has insisted from date one that she did not need to marry an American to get citizenship; she has earned that through work. On date two, she told Wythe that it’s okay to fart and burp in front of each other, because that’s human nature. She also said on date two that he had to eat shrimp or else she’d break up with him. He countered by saying she had to stop eating beef. They compromised, and they’ve been compromising ever since.

Kae and Wythe both enjoy sharing their friends and their interests, from museums to farms, breweries to wineries, cooking together to concert-going, game design to animation, and much more. Kae met most of Wythe’s family in 2018. In late 2019, they moved in together, in Astoria, Queens—only a couple of months before COVID-19 struck. They weathered that storm in part thanks to their decision in early 2021 to adopt their extremely dog-like cat, Cha’Om. (His name means “Climbing Wattle,” which is a delicious mustardy herb-like plant that Wythe discovered thanks to Kae; it has become his favorite addition to eggs and soups.) In the spring of 2022, they were finally able to travel back to Thailand, and Wythe met Kae’s loving family.

Wythe proposed to Kae on her birthday, September 5, 2022. Wythe planned the whole long weekend to celebrate Kae's birthday. After carrying the ring around for days, Wythe found a perfectly romantic quiet moment at home to propose on Kae's actual birthday. Wythe poured the wine and dropped a ring in the glass to cerebrate Kae's birthday—but, of course, Kae didn't notice and almost swallowed the ring until Wythe stopped her… Today, Kae and Wythe are looking forward to becoming officially married people, to spending more time with family, to Wythe learning more Thai, and to launching a pumpkin hundreds of meters via a trebuchet.