Ruth and Tom’s journey together began at the beginning of August 2023 after Tom had been wooed by a carefully crafted message sent by Ruth on one of the online platforms. They quickly began exchanging stories about travel adventures and the stressors of busy jobs. Tom could immediately read through the lines of Ruth’s biting sarcasm and quickly became a regular confidant about the chaos of the ORs. In return, Ruth kept Tom company via texts and phone calls while he spent most of August flying from city to city managing the demands of operating a small business and Farm . Tom sent photos of beautiful sunsets all the way from Couer d'Alene Idaho and Glacier national park to beautiful moments captured at his farm in Barre, MA. Finally, after what felt like endless texts (2 weeks!) Tom and Ruth decided to meet. Ruth was on her way to a girls weekend on the Cape, so they decided on a coffee date, and met in Worcester on a damp, cool, post call August morning. What quickly became clear minutes into the date was that one, Tom doesn’t drink coffee and two, the conversation continued to flow with ease. After parting from date one, both knew they had met someone different. Upon arrival at the cape and a afternoon of being peppered with questions by Janet Linehan, it became clear to Katharine and Jen (maids of honor) that Tom was a new and important presence in Ruth’s life. The next obstacle for Tom to overcome was the initial Joan meeting. It went better than expected! In a public well lit place with plenty of beer, Tom finally laid eyes on Joan. His pockets were filled with dog treats and the next make or break step was in action. Tom constantly fed her treats and they immediately became fast friends. At that point, Ruth knew she had someone special. Over the last year, Ruth and Tom have sought continued adventures as well an ensuring a focus on quality time with friends and family. They have spent countless weekends in Boston cheering on the Red Sox and the Bruins, as well as NYC and RI. They travelled to Antigua with Ruth’s family, Paris with friends and then Las Vegas and Montana. However, they truly put their relationship to the test in January with an unplanned road trip to Miami for Ruth’s mother’s 75th birthday. 24 hours straight in the car with laughter, stories and really bad food; as well as quick stops at South of the Border to see Pedro and Bucees reconfirmed that they had found their person.