Michael: So, I was still living in Austin—I had bought a house back in Narberth, was preparing to move back to Narberth, but was still living in Austin at the time—so I took all of my dating apps and relocated them to the Philly area.

Sammy: And I was living in Lancaster County. I had set the radius on my dating apps to 10 miles. I just kept swiping left [saying "no"] on all these profiles of people posing with dead animals (hunting is big in Lancaster County, but not so much with me) until finally my app just got frustrated and decided, "well FINE, I'm just going to start showing you people within 60 miles, then!" And Michael's profile popped up.

Michael: My app was set to show me people within like a couple miles, tops. My barometer was whether I could get to you on SEPTA.

Sammy: I thought Michael's profile was genuine and warm, and that we shared the same values and same sense of humor. I can't remember all the details, but one that pops into my mind was that the profile was set up as a series of silly prompts, and one of them asked what your favorite conspiracy theory was. He wrote something like "That Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer—one day I'm going to perform a citizens arrest and stop his reign of terror." Then several prompts down, there was another one asking what you would be arrested for, and he wrote "For joking about performing a citizens arrest on Ted Cruz on a dating app." I liked the set-up and the call-back.

Michael: I was pretty proud of that one.

Sammy: I remember getting this feeling as if I had already met him. The app gave me one free "Super-Like" that allowed me to directly message someone immediately, and I used it to message him.

Michael: I remember two big things. First, I was very, very charmed. Sammy's profile looked super earnest. She seemed smart, funny, and sincere—and she wrote about herself as only someone with a deep sense of self-understanding and awareness could. And I was very struck by the fact that she had decided to use her one "Super-Like" to message me directly. I like to say that she really created her own luck with that one, because the second big thing I remember was seeing that she lived in New Holland, PA and thinking, "Hm. I dunno that SEPTA is getting me there..." Again, my app radius was like, a couple stops on the regional rail line. The app was never going to connect me out to someone in New Holland until she took that leap and messaged me directly.

Sammy: A couple days later, I saw I had received a message back from Michael! And it was very sweet. He was immediately like, "I also need to tell you, I don't have a car, and I don't live particularly close."

Michael: I didn't want to start things off by being some scrub forcing her to drive all over the place for dates. But I figured, we can try it—I can Amtrak out to Lancaster Station or SEPTA out to Thorndale and get pretty close, so let's give it a try.

Sammy: We texted a LOT for that first month, and then we had our first date in Lancaster at the Belvedere Inn in July 2022.

Michael: I arrived back in Narberth permanently on a Saturday. I left for a trip to Maine that Monday. We had our date on that Sunday, my first full day back in Pennsylvania. And the airline accidentally sent all my luggage to Atlanta. So it's the middle of summer and I'm here in a zip-up sweater as if it's zero degrees out, because I had shipped the winter clothing separately. Meanwhile, Sammy looks gorgeous and has this beautiful date night planned.

Sammy: And it went great! We had a lot of fun, we had some great food, we walked around a bit, he was very sweet. And then on the second date, he made me butternut squash soup and beets for dinner. And now here we are!

Michael: Note to all my single friends: second-date beets are clearly the quickest way to get you a partner. Little tahini, little lemon, some parsley. Anyway. Flash forward, and I'm proposing to her on our trip to Japan.

Sammy: It was his third proposal. I mean, I said "yes" the first time he proposed, which happened very casually while we were both waking up on Thanksgiving morning—and we both agreed he would do a more romantic follow-up proposal.

Michael: The second time was Rittenhouse Square. We don't need to get into that one. (She still said yes, though.) But I nailed the third one!

Sammy: You did indeed. It was quite romantic and meant a lot to me.

Michael: I'll just close this out by saying that Sammy is the strongest, smartest, funniest, most sincere person I know, with a level of self-understanding that is truly off the charts. It was evident from the first time I spoke with her. She's centered, she's balanced, and she is *vibrant.* And since I'm in charge of the website, I get to decide how to end this particular section. And I think that's a pretty good place to conclude it. :)