We met the old-fashioned way (online) and planned to meet for the first time at the Starbucks in New Bern, NC. Samantha was so nervous that she didn't notice Cole's car was missing the front end (he had been in a minor car accident earlier that day. 3 hours later, the coffee was long gone and we were shutting the Starbucks down. Cole mentioned he was deploying in 6 months and would be away for training for the majority of the time leading up to that. We decided to make the best of the situation, and for the next 6 months, just like that first date, we enjoyed every minute we spent together.