In August of 2018, Delina Maria Zapata decided to move from Chicago to pursue her PhD in Education Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. Choosing to leave the Midwest was one of the hardest decisions of her life but she ultimately settled on UT Austin since Texas (particularly the small town of Laredo, TX) was somewhat familiar to her as she spent many of her childhood school breaks visiting her grandparents and larger family there. By the time Delina moved- Juan Carlos Romero (affectionately known as JC), a born and raised Texan from Laredo, had already settled and moved to Austin. Wanting to experience the city life, JC moved with a group of friends to Austin in 2011 where he pursued his degree in criminology and got a job working in the Austin Crime Lab.

In October of 2018, Delina & JC both decided to give the dating app Bumble a try. They were matched! And as Bumble requires women to make the first move, Delina reached out and sent JC a message. One of the first things Delina noticed from JC’s profile was his kind eyes and nice smile. So of course, she let him know how handsome she thought he was. JC was excited about the match and so surprised to see Delina's message! He thought she was so pretty and was really impressed by her being a PhD student. They got to chatting on the app and had the typical small talk and, “where you are from” questions to which JC replied, “Oh you wouldn’t know where I’m from. I am from a small town in Texas, called Laredo”. Delina enthusiastically replied that she was very familiar with Laredo! It was an immediate icebreaker, and they quickly began discussing the possibility of a first date. But Delina suddenly started to get nervous about the whole concept of going on a date with a stranger from a dating app and hesitated to set a date with JC. Noticing the hesitation, JC messaged nervously, “Can I ask, did I do something wrong?”. Struck by such a genuine response, Delina took a deep breath and decided to give JC a shot (best decision ever) and share she was available that day for the date. Now who chose the date location is often a point of debate (JC claims the romantic spot was all his idea), they decided on an evening at the Azul lounge which is a beautiful rooftop bar that overlooks Austin. That evening, over some drinks and a gorgeous view, they talked for hours about their childhood, their family, dreams and intentions for their future. There was an immediate spark and effortless connection. From that point on, Delina & JC were inseparable.

Fast forward to today, Delina & JC have led such full lives together. With love at the forefront of everything, they have supported each other’s evolving dreams, endured and nurtured each other through sickness and health, raised fur-baby Forrest, survived a pandemic, purchased a home, traveled, and most importantly, built a community full of beloved friends and family who lift them up and make their life whole.

There is so much more that can be said about the story of Delina & JC. They often reflect on and are in awe of how many things had to happen in their lives for their paths to cross and unite to move forward as team Zapata Romero. All this to say, they are very happy they decided to move to Austin, download bumble, and go on that first date!