August 2019: Aspen had just moved from Michigan to Cleveland and was starting on the next step of her journey to becoming a doctor. One of the classes she would be taking during her first year would be anatomy, and as part of that class, she’d be assigned a tutor from the second year class. That tutor, as it turned out, was Paul.

On the first day of anatomy, the first question Paul asked Aspen would prove to be a crucial one: Was she a Michigan Wolverines fan? As soon as she answered no, he was willing to get to know her. Throughout that year, they worked together and became closer friends, whether it was as teammates at a flag football tournament or Paul teaching Aspen fake anatomy facts to keep her on her toes. Once the pandemic hit, however, the school closed its doors and adapted virtual learning, meaning the different classes of students rarely crossed paths anymore. Aside from occasionally checking in on each other, Paul and Aspen didn’t have much contact throughout the pandemic.

Fast Forward to April 2021: Paul was in the midst of his rotations away fro school and Aspen was soon to be applying for her own. She’d long ago decided she wanted to move to NY, and knew Paul would be the right person to seek advice from about the final years of school and NY residency programs. Aspen reached out to Paul to meet up to answer questions, which turned into a long conversation catching up, and eventually a couple evenings of plans before Paul headed away for more rotations.

This time, however, their relationship grew in spite of the separation, and as fate would have it, they never looked back. From watching Netflix together from states apart, to promises of picnic dates (which would be later fulfilled as a proposal), by the time they were back together in person, love had blossomed and they hit the ground running. In a journey that’s taken them from Cleveland to New York and added a couple dogs along the way, Paul and Aspen are now both in the midst of their residencies, with a lifetime together awaiting them.