Sanika and Kyle met in their first couple weeks of graduate school in Pittsburgh. Their college hosted a “Fall Picnic” for students to get to know each-other in an off campus setting. Once they met, they spent a good chunk of the evening talking to each other, missed the bus back to campus, and walked most of the way home together. Kyle thought Sanika was very easy to talk to. Sanika thought it was funny that Kyle said he went back to school so he could afford a dog.

After that, they were fast friends. They studied together, they went to New York together for a cybersecurity competition (they were eliminated in the first round, but let’s not talk about that), where Sanika hit on an annoyingly oblivious Kyle, and they had many mutual friends. There was chemistry and mutual attraction that probably annoyed said friends, but things stayed platonic for quite some time.

A little over a year after they met, they finally had a real conversation about their (relationship?) and, of course, Sanika said she didn’t want to date anyone for a while. Kyle patiently waited the one week it took for Sanika to change her mind, and they started dating at another school event (this one a farewell party for some of their friends).

Things proceeded nicely for a few months after that, and then COVID hit. Everything went into lock down and they were faced with a choice - would they isolate 2 miles away from each-other, or would they (sort of) move in together after just a few months of dating? They decided that lock down was going to be very boring if they were apart, so they moved in together. The news was full of relationships ending because couples were stuck together 24/7, but things actually went well for Sanika and Kyle - really well.

After their summer internships, Kyle had a job lined up in San Francisco, and Sanika had one in New York, so pre-COVID they had planned to try a long distance relationship once they graduated. Sanika was touched that Kyle had already budgeted his future salary so they could meet every month. Kyle thought that was an obvious thing to do.

Post COVID, Sanika changed jobs and Kyle’s job went remote, so they decided to stick together and move near Kyle’s family in Washington state. Eventually, Sanika dragged a reluctant Kyle to San Jose, where he actually enjoyed the perpetually nice weather. But Kyle had wanted to buy a house, and not being millionaires they couldn’t afford to do that in San Jose, so after much discussion they settled on a new construction home near Camas, Washington (just northeast of Portland), where they moved in February 2023.

At that point, Kyle had already bought a ring. He wanted to surprise Sanika, and decided to propose when the Japanese Cherry Blossoms were in bloom at Portland’s Tom McCall Park. The day he planned to propose, the rain was coming down hard, so they decided to visit the park some other day. This was a relief for Kyle because he thought the next weekend would be better, for reasons that you'll understand in a minute, so instead he made truly bomb fried rice for the first time - something that had eluded him for a decade. As they were eating this culinary marvel, the weather cleared up, so they decided to audible and head to Portland. Once there, well, Sanika said yes and the rest is history.

From then on, the date Sanika and Kyle got engaged would be known as one of two days: The day Kyle made bomb fried rice, and, yes, April Fools day.

S&K

Reception