Ours is what you may call a COVID love story…or Love in the time of COVID?

Diane and I met in 2018 as co-workers at the Riverside Church in NYC. I started work there early in that year, Diane towards the end.

I remember how excited my boss was when she announced at a meeting that she had hired a “kick-ass archivist!” Like most people, my immediate thought was “what the hell is an archivist? Is that like a librarian?"

Diane and I became collegial co-workers, attending the same arduous staff meetings, and soon noticed our similar wonder at some of our co-workers’ antics. No disrespect but there were plenty of opportunities for us to commiserate.

We soon progressed to a “work friend” status. We emailed each other Game of Thrones clips and Diane bought me a Grateful Dead Magazine!

In January of 2020 COVID hit NY and our office closed. Zoom anyone?

Almost all our coworkers went 100% remote. Two exceptions: the Archivist and the Finance Guy!

I had to go in to pay bills; Diane needed to bring home archival materials to scan into the awesome digital archive she was building from scratch.

After carefully considering which co-workers lived near me or were on my way to Manhattan and needed to go into the office but did not have a car, I graciously offered to pick up “anyone” who needed a ride on Wednesdays. Just a little innocent scheming! In truth I just really enjoyed Diane’s company and the more time we spent together the stronger those feelings became.

“Just Friends”

Diane made it very clear that our growing friendship was just that...friends. “Figures” I figured. Not to get too sappy, but I really felt lucky just to have someone as awesome as Diane in my life. So that’s how it remained. Friends, with just a little innocent flirting.

“Long Beach”

Luckily for me, Diane was going stir crazy, confined to her studio apt during COVID. So, in addition to our weekly trips into the office, I started thinking of things we could do during a pandemic. Outdoors? Check. Socially Distanced? Sure. I introduced Diane to Long Beach! We walked on the boardwalk and sand, ate at outdoor restaurants. Later on we added trips to the Hunter Mountain, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and a town named Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. Friendship blooming…

What really happened next was magical. We soon realized we wanted more than friendship. I’ll never forget driving with Diane and just reaching out to hold her hand. No words spoken, none needed.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but we started officially dating in Sept 2020, and pretty much haven’t looked back since.

We moved in together in November 2021 (in Hastings!) and got engaged at Harry Potter World in Orlando in April 2023.

Our story will continue on…and we love that you are joining us to share our special day.

Diane and I so appreciate our friends and family. Thank you for help making our day so special!!

Matt & Diane