It was November 2018 … a Thursday … during a snowstorm ... and according to Christina, “the roads were literally frozen.”

But it was the night Anthony and Christina were planning to meet.

Anthony’s brother, Phil, had planted the idea in their heads.

“I don’t know if you’re ready to start dating yet but I think you should meet my brother,” he told Christina, his colleague at the time at Long Beach High School.

When Phil asked Anthony if he wanted to go on a date, he responded, “Yea, I think it’s time.”

Christina picked the venue: The bar at Miller’s Ale House in Levittown. Her thinking being she wasn’t ready for a formal sit-down dinner and there were plenty of sporting events on TV that night that could provide a nice distraction should there be lulls in their conversation.

But that wouldn’t be an issue. Nor would the stormy weather deter them.

It was the first snowstorm of the season and it had caught mostly everyone off-guard. The forecast had predicted 1-2 inches of snow, but 6-8 had fallen and the roads were treacherous.

“They probably should have canceled school that day,” Anthony said, although he wisely took off.

He was willing to postpone the first date.

“I was actually concerned for her, and I said, ‘We do not have to do this tonight. It’s too dangerous out. Shall we just reschedule?’”

Christina’s response: “No, I have a truck. Let’s just do this.”

And her tenacity would be rewarded.

Anthony arrived early, 45 minutes earlier actually… and calmed his nerves with a few beverages.

And when Christina finally made it there her first impression was: “He looks a lot like Phil.”

Looking back, both recalled the conversation just flowed.

“I hadn’t been on a first date in over five years, and we never once had an awkward break in conversation,” she said.

In the days that followed, Anthony went MIA, not answering texts and phone calls. Christina thought she was being ghosted. Anthony just had a man cold.

They shared their first kiss during a more impromptu meeting, when Anthony picked her up from an LIRR train station after a night out with her friends in Brooklyn.

But the real test would come a few weeks later, on Anthony’s birthday.

“I had some of my friends there and she knew really no one,” Anthony said of the dinner. “I left her to talk to people and walked away, purposefully, to see if she could handle hanging out with my friends.”

For Christina, the night was a testament to who Anthony was.

“From the birthday experience test I learned that there was a whole lot of people who loved and cared about him and who were really excited for him,” she said.

What followed soon after was an even bigger introduction. Anthony’s family. Like ALL of them.

While taking in a NY Ranger game, Anthony nonchalantly asked Christina if she had any plans on Dec. 23rd.

When she said ‘No,’ he asked her if she’d like to attend a Broadway show with him. It was Aladdin. She was in.

It was only then that he divulged they’d be going with about 20 members of his family, which included his parents, siblings, their spouses and kids, aunts and uncles.

Christina’s cheeks quickly turned red, but she said, “That’s a little overwhelming, but I’ll be OK.”

“Then,” she recalled, “I met the WHOLE crew.”

The two had only been dating a few weeks but it’s no surprise that “love you” slipped out of Anthony’s lips one night while saying goodbye to Christina on the phone.

She didn’t say it back right then… but the words came not long after.

During the Christmas break, Anthony had also spent time with Christina’s family and the experience only made her fall faster and harder in love. And with him leaving to spend New Year’s down in Florida, the thought of being separated inspired her to say I love you, too.

When the ball dropped, ringing in 2019, neither knew they were about to embark on one of the most challenging years of their lives. Separately, they’d both be dealt career obstacles, but together they would confront them, support one another, and grow even closer together.

“It was a terrible moment in his life but for our relationship it made us stronger,” Christina said. “He leaned on me … he trusted me enough to be open and really showed all the emotions he was going through, and I felt like I helped him. I was his person.”

That same year, Christina found herself leaning on Anthony when she was dealing with her own career setbacks.

“At the end of the day when I wanted someone to talk to, I could say whatever I wanted to him and he would just listen or offer his experience being in the education field as well,” she recalled.

Then, when Christina’s father passed away in 2020, Anthony was there for her again and the two “realized we just need to spend more time together.”

And that’s just what they are doing.

“I’m able to be myself, that’s the best part, and she accepts me with all my flaws,” Anthony said.

When the pandemic postponed many couples’ wedding plans, Anthony and Christina said ‘I do” in an intimate ceremony with some close family and friends. And now they are looking forward to celebrating their nuptials with their larger crews.

“Her father picked out her wedding dress, so she wants to make sure she wears that one,” Anthony said.

Looking back on their journey so far, Christina says, “We both learned to be resilient and to rely on each other. I thought I would have a lot harder of time trusting someone after my last relationship and what I went through, but it was very easy with Anthony to trust him. He’s a nice genuine person and I think I knew that very early on.”

Beyond that, they are looking forward to everything the future holds or as Anthony says, “Growing our family, making it bigger one child at a time, hopefully.”

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