To fully trace the beginning of our relationship, you have to rewind the clock past our births and all the way to when our parents first lay the groundwork with their initial meeting during their service year in Nigeria. To this day, they maintain that they had no intention of playing the role of matchmaker for us but it's undeniable that our lives became inextricably intertwined as our parents became fast friends during this time period, forming a lasting relationship that would weather both time and distance.

Both born in the coastal city of Port Harcourt, our paths would cross over the years at an infrequent pace. Both of our families charted their own journeys from Nigeria to the States, as Tolu's family almost immediately made a beeline to the UK before hopping across the pond to Massachusetts almost ten years later, while Tosin's family made a number of stops in Oklahoma and Venezuela before settling in Houston for the long haul. As time went on and the distance between two families grew closer once again, we were able to establish our own line of communication. What started as childhood pen pals over email developed into high school confidants sharing their joys and troubles, ultimately blossoming in the beginning of a relationship shortly after graduating college.

From there, our relationship proceeded just like any other: a global pandemic forced Tosin off of MIT's campus and into the home of Tolu's family for three months. Navigating a historic public health event within the first year of the relationship was certainly not expected but our shared history enabled us to persevere through this and many other obstacles, such as taking the relationship long distance after Tosin capitalized on an exciting opportunity to work in San Francisco. Eventually, it became clear to us that we would be in each others' lives for the long haul and we finally sealed the deal with a proposal in March 2023.