His Version:

It all started on September 24, 2017. I moved to Dallas to start my first job after graduating. I downloaded “Dil Mil” to give the dating app life a shot. Janice’s profile read “my laugh may or may not be as obnoxious as Janice from Friends.” I knew then that I needed a “Friends” pick up line to catch her attention. In classic older sister fashion, Nisha came to the rescue with a Chandler Bing impression: “Could you BE anymore cute?” and she responded!

From that September on, Janice and I kept in contact over the next few months. The common theme of the messages was our love for sports. Janice is a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan (yuck), and I’m a huge New England Patriots fan. Naturally, the arguments centered around whose team was better.

Her Version:

I had just moved to Cleveland in the summer of 2017 to complete my Master’s degree. I didn’t know anyone in the Cleveland area, so I decided to download Dil Mil and soon after, I matched with Ryan. I remember he used some cheesy pick-up line from Friends. We talked for a few months via texting, phone calls, and facetime. I remember wondering during our first phone call if Ryan was intentionally making his voice deep (but later found out that’s actually just his voice!) Ryan shared that he was a huge Patriots fan, which was almost a deal breaker for me, since I love the Eagles. We talked for a few months and then eventually the conversations fizzled out. Over the years, we would randomly snapchat each other and wish each other a happy birthday, so I thought we had become friends.

His Version:

Fast forward to November 2019: I took a trip to Chicago to visit Nisha and some friends. After many mimosas at Barrio, I took a look at the TV and noticed the Patriots were playing (and beating) the Eagles. It had been a while since I talked to Janice, but with the help of some liquid courage, I decided to give it another shot. Surprisingly, Janice responded! We bickered about our teams and the conversation continued for hours while I roamed the streets of Chicago. Soon it was time to catch my flight back to Dallas, but I didn’t want the conversation to end. So naturally, I decided to buy WiFi on the plane to keep the conversation flowing. Things were going so great that I asked Janice if she wanted to meet in person one day. To my surprise, she agreed to meet. Janice and I finally met in person and we hit it off instantly. I felt like I knew her for years (technically, I did). I knew then that I was going to ask her out. I called Nisha for advice, who was initially shocked, but said “if it feels right, go for it!”

Her Version:

In October 2019, Ryan was one of the first people to text me about the anniversary of my mom’s passing. I remember thinking that he was genuinely a good guy. I was sitting with my sister, Jasmine, who was impressed as well. Just one month later, Ryan texted me that the Patriots were beating the Eagles. Of course, my ego was bruised, but we kept talking. I was at my friend Shilpa’s house; I told her I was going to stay up to study, but ended up texting Ryan for several hours instead. Eventually, he asked to meet in person. I was nervous, but excited! And, with some encouragement from Shilpa, I agreed to meet up.

In December 2019, we finally met in person. I am not someone who had ever believed in love at first sight, but with Ryan, it was different. He was easy to talk to and we just clicked. I facetimed my sisters, Jasmine and Josy and told them that I liked him. I had a feeling he was going to ask me out. So when he did, I knew the answer was yes!

His Version:

After multiple attempts over two years of talking on and off, I finally asked Janice to make it official on December 8, 2019. Moral of the story is - if at first you don’t succeed, just remember "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." And here we are over 4 years later ready to spend forever together!