In October 2022, some old college friends invited Maria to hang out at their bowling night while she was visiting Columbus. The friends, Drew and Scott, were married so Maria assumed the whole bowling team was also married. Maria went out for drinks with them after bowling, Drew promptly asked what Maria thought of his teammate, Dave. Maria was confused and then put two and two together, "Were you trying to set me up? Why wouldn't you tell me?!? I would have put on make-up or showed up earlier!" A couple weeks passed and Drew texted Maria asking if she wanted to text Dave, she again was confused and asked "Why would I do that? I met him for 5 minutes! You can give him my number if he wants to text me." Well within 5 minutes Dave texted Maria, he had been sitting right next to Drew.

They spent the next 3 days texting and then when Dave was driving back to Columbus the following Sunday after visiting his mom in Pittsburgh, they spent the whole car ride talking on the phone. The following week Maria came up to Columbus again, went to bowling night and hung out with the guys afterwards. They had their first official date on Saturday November 12, 2022 at Highbanks Distillery.

From there things happened quickly, from meeting the best friends and family to going to see Christmas lights and hockey games. It didn't take long for both Dave and Maria to know they were in love.

Long distance was a challenge that they were willing to embrace, but knew they didn't want to be apart for long. The discussions about moving started happening more frequently and quickly Maria knew what she wanted to do. On July 1, 2023 Maria bought a house in the Westgate neighborhood of Columbus and they moved in together.

Not long after Maria's cat, Merida, made the move to join her and Dave in Columbus. And that fall they adopted a puppy, Stella. They love building LEGO sets, playing trivia, games, puzzles and being active. They both suffer from FOMO and love to try new things. They can't wait for their next chapter, marriage, and hope you will be there to celebrate!