Syd and Shea met when they were 12 and 13 years old at Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Massachusetts where Syd went to middle school at the time. They were in an after-school program together called Destination Imagination, and they fell in love at first sight (though they didn't know until quite some time after). In March of 2013, a childhood friend gave Shea's number to Syd during rehearsal for the school's play, Fiddler on the Roof, after she admitted to having had a crush on him for some time. They would constantly text each other from that time onward. They (almost) never went to the same schools and never lived in the same town, but thanks to the dedication of their families driving them place to place over the next 5 years through the end of middle school and throughout high school, Syd and Shea stuck together. After high school, they were long-distance in college - Syd in Maine and Shea in Vermont - but finally moved in together in July of 2022 after Shea received a job offer to work at Epic Systems in Madison, Wisconsin. Although they never saw themselves moving so far away from home, they have built their lives together. They now have two beloved cats, Pigeon and Toes, who make Syd and Shea's lives so much more vibrant. Syd, who has a background in the arts, now works in the Wisconsin Cranberry Genetics and Genomics Lab at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and has become incredibly passionate about working in science. Shea is a trainer for Epic, teaching doctors and nurses how to navigate healthcare software necessary for helping patients. They are both entirely new people, but their hearts still belong to each other. Syd and Shea believe it was and always has been written in the stars.

After a sneaky trip to the jeweler, Shea managed to hide the engagement ring in the bottom drawer of his bureau for weeks on end. He planned meticulously for the right moment, the right evening to surprise Syd. After getting home from work the day before Valentine's Day in 2023, he was greeted at the door by Syd who was wearing one of her mom's bridesmaids' dresses. She had surprised him by cooking an early dinner, and before sitting down to eat, Shea uncharacteristically (Shea's words, not Syd's!!) suggested a walk to the park at the end of the road. This park was one of many spots they would frequent as they started their lives together. They stopped to "take some photos" at twilight, the sun disappearing behind the barren trees. Shea propped his phone in front of the widest honey locust tree in the park, took two cute photos, and on the third, dropped to one knee in the mud. Before he could ask if Syd would take him to be her husband, he nervously said, "Look, you're making me get my pants all dirty!". Obviously Syd said yes. Syd was completely unsuspecting of his plan, as one month from that day was their 10-year anniversary, a seemingly obvious time for Shea to propose. This park is now known to them as Engagement Park!