Ian and Melissa initially met at 17 years old, while working at the old Garden State Discovery Museum. They had always been in the same friend group, and even dressed up together for a group costume one year as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! College came, and they parted ways, always coming back together each summer to continue working at The Museum. 

In 2017, Melissa graduated from nursing school, and officially left the Museum family to work as a nurse. Surely they thought this was goodbye. However, as fate would have it, Ian had decided to go back to school at Rutgers to become a nurse. During COVID times, Ian would often check in on Melissa, allowing her to vent and ensure she was doing okay working the pandemic. She absolutely had no idea he was flirting with her at the time. 

The two began to talk more and see each other, when Ian officially asked if Melissa would be his girlfriend in August, 2021. They have created many memories, including vacations to Gettysburg, Niagara Falls, and Key West. The journey to finding their first house wasn’t easy or quick, but they settled in their first house in May, 2024, and it is quickly becoming a home. On October 6, 2024 in an apple orchard, Ian proposed. The rest is history!