Bill and I met in the fall of 2020 during the heart of COVID. I had recently moved to San Diego to start my pediatric training and in the middle of the tireless work days and 6-day work weeks I decided it was a great idea to join a dating app. Bill and I matched quickly on Hinge and after a few scattered messages back and forth, made difficult by each of our erratic work schedules, we decided to meet in person. The nerves quickly began as this would be my first official dating app date. After hiding behind the messaging, it was time to actually take it to the next step. We quickly realized we both lived just blocks from one another downtown and so naturally our first date would be nearby. Due to COVID restrictions made even more strict by the Navy, we decided an outdoor first date walk would be the smartest.

The day of our first date arrived, which happened to be on a Tuesday because my only day off that week, thanks to residency, was naturally on a Wednesday. Driving home from the hospital after a grueling day on the pediatric wards I called my mom, nervous for my first date and, honestly, not wanting to go on a first date at all. The day had been filled with calling consults and calming panicked parents who only wanted their children to heal and get better and, frankly, I was exhausted. My mom quickly reminded me of my day off the next day and encouraged me to put myself out there. “You never know, this guy could be the one!”

I remember walking up to our meeting spot just outside of Petco Park, panicking because there were so many people milling about. If you know me, you know that my facial recognition is not great and this would not be a great start if I couldn’t even recognize the guy. As I got closer a tall guy with brown hair wearing a t-shirt and khaki shorts turned around and we locked eyes. Even while donning a black cloth mask covering half of his face, I knew I could recognize those sunburst eyes from anywhere, it was Bill.

We took off on our walk, starting with the basics of getting to know on another and before we knew it we had made a 3 mile loop and were back where we started. Thinking that Bill was a stickler for rules and wanting to be safe by abiding by the COVID restrictions, I kept my mask on the entire walk. Well, come to find out way later, Bill thought the same thing of me. And so, naturally, we spent our first COVID date without seeing the entirety of one another’s faces.

That first date quickly turned into a second and third. (I will point out, we did, in fact, decide to ditch the masks by date #2). Still having a crazy work schedule, our time together transitioned into hanging out on Sundays, watching some good ‘ol Midwestern football or lounging on the couch watching House Hunters International mixed in with exploring San Diego, going stand up paddle boarding, and sailing on the Bay.

As my intern year ended and I transitioned into operational medicine, finally getting weekends off, Bill’s work schedule rapidly picked up as he prepared for a 9-month deployment. In late 2021 I moved to Pensacola to start my training to become a flight surgeon and by January 2022 Bill was setting sail on the USS Abraham Lincoln. As everyone knows, long-distance relationships are not easy. However, adding in email as the only form of communication made difficult by random “comms outages” on the ship, deployment long distance is a whole other level of difficult. We ended up thriving on our long and numerous email chains and even had a couples book club, discussing our thoughts on the books as we read through them.

The time luckily passed quickly as I stayed busy going through the same, yet condensed, flight training that Bill had gone through several years prior and before I knew it Bill and I were choosing our next Navy jobs. Bill found out first that he would be staying in San Diego to work his dream job of instructing MH60R pilots at HSM-41. Soon after, my list of job opportunities came out and there was not a single San Diego job. Devastating. The next best option happened to be in the desert, working with Marines in Yuma, AZ. Luckily it was a straight-shot, 2.5 hour drive between the two, making weekend trips to see one another not so bad.

Our time apart through deployment proved to us that we could get through anything and set us up for success being long distance for another 2 years. During that time we grew as a couple and made some big steps including purchasing our first home together and officially getting engaged on a mountain top during our whirlwind 100 mile hike through the Alps. Since then, I have officially moved to San Diego and we have settled into life living in the same city again. It is crazy to think the journey we have been on so far and I can’t wait to celebrate forever with y’all soon!

Bill and Gwen’s relationship has never been what some would consider “normal”. Bill and Gwen met like many people during the pandemic, through the dating app Hinge (designed to be deleted). Gwen had agreed, thanks to her mom as it turned out, to go on a date with Bill. They agreed to meet outside Petco Park, where the padres play. Bill showed up knowing that Gwen was a pediatrician and worked with kids so when he showed up and she was wearing a mask he figured she was doing so in the means of safety, so he kept his mask on as well (weird times). They had a nice walk along the San Diego Bay talking and had a nice dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, Lolita’s. Bill and Gwen did not take off their masks until it was time for tacos, so she did not see his face until most of the way through the date but by that time it was too late, and she had already decided she maybe sorta kinda liked the guy.

Fast forward a year and Gwen was helping Bill pack for deployment and helped him load his things, which involved about a mile walk with all the gear necessary for a 9-month deployment, onto the aircraft carrier through 3 security checkpoints, up 8 flights of stairs and a few very small hatches. Gwen was also preparing to begin her training as a Naval Flight Surgeon in Pensacola. Gwen and Bill said their “see ya later’s” (never goodbye) and went their separate ways across the world. Bill spent most of his time in the South China Sea and while Gwen was going through the same grueling time in flight school as Bill had only 5 years earlier. They kept up with each other through a slew of emails. Sometimes involving up to 5 different threads which had various topics as well as a dedicated email chain for their book club that they did together to feel close to each other (Project Hail Mary Great book, strongly recommend)

Now here we are 4 years after that first fateful walk around the bay and Bill and Gwen are getting married. They finally live in the same city together again and even bought a house together in San Diego. Their road has been anything but conventional, but they wouldn’t have it any other way and couldn’t be more excited for what the future has in store for them.