While we often muse on how we would have met in the ‘real world’, the dating app, Hinge, is where our love first blossomed. Despite a reputation amongst his friends for having selective tendencies, Andrew wasted no time sending a like to Vanessa, wooed by her curls and love of Big Ten sports. While Vanessa had only rejoined the app that day, she decided to take a chance on the fella with an easy smile at the top of her feed. Our conversation, centered around aggressively premature retirement plans, soon escalated to a date. There we bonded over life experiences and fandom of football teams not named the Bears. Vanessa’s authentic, bubbly personality shined, quickly winning over Andrew’s heart. On the flip side, Andrew’s charming demeanor and overtly ‘Scon accent when pronouncing the word “bag” left an impression on Vanessa. It was quickly clear that those dating apps could be deleted once and for all. The next two and a half years were spent traveling, going to country concerts, growing close with each other’s loved ones, and partaking in our favorite pastime, walking aimlessly around Chicago. While highlights of our relationship include galavanting to exotic locations, such as Hawaii and New Zealand, it’s life’s simpler moments, such as enjoying a new brewery or a home cooked dinner, where our love has grown the most. The rumor mill swirled prior to every excursion, but Andrew knew Vanessa wanted their big moment to take place in the city where their story began. It was a fateful July evening where Andrew dropped to a knee at Ping Tom Park, the locale of a memorable double date earlier in our relationship. Andrew mustered some heartfelt remarks through his adrenaline (read: emotions that he was about to lose control of) capped with “Will you marry me?”, to which Vanessa responded with an emphatic “Yes”. The beginning of our forever after all.