Picture a warm June day in 2020. It was the first day Maryland reopened restaurants for outdoor dining post pandemic. Patrick and his friend Walter were preparing for a day of good food and good music when Patrick saw Sam sitting on the stairs to the apartment building. On their way to the grocery store Patrick asked Walter if it would be ok if he invited Sam- Walter’s neighbor- to join them when they returned to the apartment complex. Patrick had noticed Sam before, in fact had opened the door for her on multiple occasions when she refused to make more than one trip for her groceries, weighing her arms down with multiple plastic bags. When they got back, Patrick invited Sam to join them and after making him wait a little she joined them at 4 pm and didn’t leave until 4 am. That was the start of their inseparable bond. Since then they’ve added animals to their family at a rapid pace and currently have two dogs- Teddy and Oakley, a cat Lilly and two fish- Mavrick and Gill. Patrick’s family has become Sam’s and neither of the pair could have imagined where they’d be today- about to celebrate their love in front of all those they hold dear to them. They cannot wait for what the future holds.