After many failed romances, Keegan was thrown a number by his friend Becky. He was skeptical, since the last time she had tried to set him up it ended in a rekindled romance that did not include him. All he knew was that this new potential match liked beer, biking, Maine, and taking cute photos of herself in small boats (see pic below). That was all it took. A serious toe injury had left him in a walking boot, but the occasion called for a real shoe. After hobbling into his car and driving down to the brewery where they were to meet, he promptly waited 15 minutes for his future bride to show up. Post her late arrival, the conversation flowed though, and he was pretty excited about where things could go. A delicious pizza place, a long movie where certain parties fell asleep, and some homemade dinners later they were officially a couple!

In 2017, I woke up one Sunday morning in September to a text I had received from my friend and coworker Becky. The time stamp was 1am.

"I am with my old coworker, Keegan, who is a v attractive and social software developer looking for a relationship. He's 29, but v serious about finding someone. I want to introduce ya'll, he's the best. We can discuss Monday, but would love to hook ya'll up."

Given the description, I agreed. Becky further explained in person how Keegan and I had a lot in common: We both like to bike, and we both like Maine. Also, she stressed, Keegan is very into beer.

A week later I found myself on my way (running 5 minutes late) to Reuben's, a brewery in Seattle, to meet Keegan for the first time. When I got there, Keegan had already arrived and was casually sipping a beer. Considering Becky said he was such a beer aficionado, before choosing my own beer, I figured I should ask Keegan how his beer was. "It's beer," he replied and stared at me. It was at this point that I recalled Becky also telling me that "Keegan is a 'slow-burn'".

But despite that initial terseness, our conversation flowed. We talked about Maine, restaurants, hiking, and living in Seattle. We talked about what bike routes we take home from work. There was nothing remarkable about what we talked about, but a couple things were certain: 1) It was easy talking to Keegan because he asked me thoughtful questions and truly listened to what I said, and 2) I got a good feeling from him.

What followed were more dates: pizza at Delancey, seeing Blade Runner 2049 (I fell asleep in the theatre), and discussing how to properly measure out a tablespoon (where Keegan revealed he uses a soup spoon). Which progressed to even more fun expeditions: a trip to Victoria and getting asked by the customs agent what the "status of our relationship was"; and my first backpacking trip, in February, where we couldn't get a fire started because everything was damp, and it reached a low of 25 degrees that night (my lips were chapped for a week). More cooking, camping, getting [officially] married, a cross-country move to Maine, a baby, we fast forward to now!

The picture of Keegan Becky sent to Anna before they met.

The picture of Anna Becky sent to Keegan before they met.