10 years ago in late May 2014, Ty and Claire met on Claire's high school orientation day. For the next three years, they endured the torment of their friends teasing them that they liked each other. Ty and Claire insisted that they were "just friends." During Claire's final year in Calgary, Claire’s parents were out of town so Ty drove her home from school every day. Not because he liked her…just because she really needed a ride. Around that time, Claire lost a bet and had to buy Ty lunch. They went to Smashburger and, even though she owed him, Ty paid for both lunches. Not because he liked her…just because he was a gentleman. Then, Ty got Claire flowers and they started hanging out a lot more. Not because he liked her…okay, yeah, he was out of excuses at that point; he just did really like her. And she liked him too. All the while, the line between friend hang outs and dates became increasingly more vague. Claire’s Canadian visa was running out, meaning she would have to return home to the United States. They knew that an international long-distance relationship would be risky and difficult, so they decided to stay friends and Claire returned home. They both started university and stayed in touch. After finishing their first semesters of college, Claire flew to Calgary to visit Ty in January of 2018 and they officially started dating. The long-distance was hard, especially with a pandemic shutting down the border limiting visits for an entire year and Claire moving 7 times. Despite living separate lives, they were able to stay closer than ever, with over 80 flights to see each other and countless video calls. They have been dating for 6 years now. Ty works as a Mechanical Engineer remotely, meaning he can be anywhere in the world Claire is, and Claire works as a school Speech-Language Pathologist, meaning that she has more breaks to be with Ty. They like to say that they are “snowbirds” at the age of 25, spending the winters in Texas and the summers in Calgary.