I met Abby for the first time during one of the adoration nights at the Newman Center. Near the end of the holy hour, Father Mahoney began the Benediction hymn, Tantum Ergo. I was sitting across the aisle from Abby and it was as if all the other voices in the room were drowned out, and I could only hear her voice during the entire hymn! The following week, I decided I had to ask her on a date. After adoration I asked Abby if she needed someone to walk her home. She said no. So the next week I told her "Abby, I know you said you didn't need someone to walk you home last week, but I'm going to walk you home anyway." We got to her door and I asked her out for Italian food. I got a resounding “YES!” this time and a big hug. What a night I will never forget! My excitement soon turned to fear as I realized I had to walk a half mile back to my apartment, alone, in the poorly lit backstreets of North Philadelphia. As they say, the rest is history!

I had seen Connor around the Temple Newman Center a few times, but had never spoken to him. During Covid, there were only 8 or so of us on campus that were using the Newman Center as a refuge, and Connor happened to be one of those people. One spring day we were sitting upstairs in the Newman Center library when I asked, "Does anyone want to go make friendship bracelets?" I looked at the 3 men staring back at me in the room knowing it would be a firm "No,” so I made my way downstairs on my own - EXCEPT, when I reached the bottom of the stairs I noticed the sound of other footsteps behind me. There was Connor with an eager smile and having no experience in bracelet making. We sat outside on a bench and worked on one for an hour or so. Later on we would reconnect after Adoration on a Monday night. I'm thrilled to now call Connor more than my best friend.