Sitting bored at his apartment in July 2020 during the pandemic, Nathan decided to crowdsource recipes. You see, Nathan loves to cook, and he had been experimenting with new recipes for quite some time. However, he was curious about which recipes people would share, so he posted on a Facebook group for Jewish students. Of all the recipes, one caught his eye - kasha varnishkes - because people in his family had made this dish for holidays. He quickly looked who had commented this recipe. "Hmm, Ranata sounds pretty interesting, and she's cute too," he thought to himself. Nathan did what all men who try to act coy do. He liked and commented on the post, messaged Ranata, and friend requested her, all within the span of two minutes.

Meanwhile, Ranata was scrolling on Facebook from her parents' house in Florida. 14,000 people in this Jewish Facebook group and she noticed a post from someone asking for recipes to try. "Why doesn't he just Google it?" she thought to herself. Then, she looked at his picture and thought he had a cute smile, so she felt pulled to comment - even if she'd never meet this guy from Chicago. She commented her favorite dish, kasha varnishkes. All of a sudden, and within the span of two minutes, this guy liked and commented on the post, messaged her, and friend requested her too. "Cute, but I'll never meet him," she thought.

They texted for seven hours that day, a true achievement because the average human attention span is about 8 seconds, and Nathan's is far shorter than that. The next day, they Facetimed for six hours, discussing everything from interests to hopes and dreams to jokes. That was the beginning of a truly incredible connection.

Nine months later, after they were both vaccinated, they finally met in person when Ranata flew to Chicago. Ranata was so nervous that she discussed trees the entire car ride from the airport, while Nathan was so nervous that he hardly said a word. "Oh no, he's regretting this," thought Ranata. "It's amazing that she's actually here," thought Nathan.

Once the initial nerves settled, they realized something way bigger than them was happening. Nine months of Zoom dates, hours talking on the phone, and love letters coalesced into a wonderful time together in person, solidifying for each that the other person was their soulmate. They spent two incredible weeks together, including many nice walks along the Chicago Riverwalk.

Over the next four years, Ranata and Nathan lived in different places. Nathan lived in Chicago, while Ranata moved from Florida to abroad to New York. They made sure to talk all the time and always prioritize each other. They saw each other in person as much as they could.

As that time progressed, they fell deeper in love. Knowing they were on the same page about wanting to spend forever and beyond together, Nathan made plans to propose to Ranata. On March 4, 2023, Nathan and Ranata went on another walk on the Chicago Riverwalk, as they did every visit. After initially bamboozling her by bending down to tie his shoe and continuing to walk, Nathan distracted Ranata by pointing to some random thing on a bridge. Ranata, being generally very excited about the world, turned to look. When she turned back, Nathan was down on one knee proposing. She was so excited that she forgot to say "yes." Naturally, her entire reaction was one big yes. Nathan was so excited that he forgot that Ranata forgot to say "yes" initially!

After nearly four years in different places, Ranata and Nathan were thrilled to learn that Nathan would be moving to New York. In May 2024, they moved into their cozy little apartment. They are thrilled to be living together, but have long understood that they are each other's home.

They are so excited to celebrate their wedding with their loved ones and spend forever celebrating their love.

Dear reader, we told you that this would be the best love story you'll ever read. We weren't kidding.

Love,

Ranata and Nathan