Being the savvy IT guy and general trickster that he is, it all started in 2017 when Michael joined a dating app using a faux Facebook account. To be fair, the photos were not “faux-tos”, they were actually him. Michael claims that Rachel "super-liked" him and so he stepped up and sent her a message. The text conversation flowed naturally and seemed normal enough, so Michael did not waste any time asking for Rachel’s number to set up a date “in real life”. Good thing he did, because his account was promptly shut down days later as the Facebook account was flagged as fraudulent (luckily he wouldn't need it again anyways).

The first date was at a local brewery, Trillium, in Downtown Boston near where they both worked. Recently relocated from New York where every bar had Happy Hour discounts from 5-7, Michael of course offered to pay not realizing that in Boston you pay top dollar for every drink no matter what time of day it is! What was supposed to be just a couple of beers and “getting to know you” talk turned into a full dinner date that lasted until closing time when the waitstaff had to kindly ask them to leave the restaurant.

As coincidence would have it, both Michael and Rachel had independently made big plans to spend the upcoming long weekend on the Cape with their respective friend groups at their families’ homes in Brewster and Chatham. Little did they know they were 15 minutes down the road from each other, both telling their friends about the date they had just gone on and wondering what the other was doing. Once they figured out what was going on it could not help but feel a little bit like fate, and they decided to meet up the evening they arrived back in Boston. They enjoyed some white wine on a rooftop overlooking the Boston skyline where Michael, naturally, broke a wine glass. This would be the first of many incidents Rachel has since dubbed the “Adventures of Spill Boy”.

As time passed, their fondness for each other grew and they began to work their way closer together. Michael moved to Cambridge where Rachel had lived for years, and then ultimately, they moved into a place of their own together in “Southie”.

Fast forward three years later from that first date, we are blessed beyond measure to have found each other and to have grown so close with each other’s families and friends. From world travel and job changes to joint meal planning and an unexpected pandemic, we have experienced so much growth as individuals and as companions (and we have spent a LOT of time together with just the two of us inside). Rachel has yet to learn to fold her laundry in a timely manner but, hey, we can't all be perfect.

We just cannot wait to be married, and we are looking forward to officially becoming family and continuing on our chosen path of making a lifetime of memories together.