Our tale starts years before the lover's first date, in the Firestone on the Marine Corps Base of New River, North Carolina. Madison drove her well-loved, though admittedly battered sedan (Helga) regularly to her mechanic shop just a few blocks away from work. This is because the people there were kind and took fantastic care of her Helga. Unbeknownst to Madison, it wasn't the people that took the time and care of her steed but the shop manager Zach, because he admired her heart and smile, though he would never tell her. Their interactions in the shop remained innocuous and friendly until the chance day came that Zach stumbled upon Madison's dating profile and sent that initial connection. Madison, upon seeing his face on her phone, knew that she had seen him somewhere before. So naturally she very bluntly asked "I've seen you before, but I don't know where." To which Zach replied, "I work on your car at Firestone..." Cue Madison's embarrassment and the start of the lover's journey. She finds out that Zach was the one keeping her Helga moving, (Zach years later would tell her how awful of shape her car was actually in and all the preventative (band aide) work he would do to help keep it alive), and the couple spent a few months getting to know each other over the phone before going on their first date. Time seemed to warp; shortly after their first date Madison met Zach's, then five-year-old son Alec, who is as bright, as he is kind, making the partnership a family. Their family added their faithful companion, Eeyore to the mix while navigating time apart when Madison's duties sent her around the globe and across the United States. Zach shifted gears to work in a different shop, on different cars for his dream job in another city prompting the need for a new house in a new town. That new house now holds many memories, with one core being Zach's proposal at dusk under the stars and woods of their backyard on June 9th, 2025. Five months later, the lovers married in Wilmington, NC on November 17th, 2025, two years to the day that happenstance connection was made.