Dan's Version:

“Howdy!”, he said.

An unusual greeting, to be sure. After all, this was HINGE and not FARMER’S ONLY.

And yet, here she was, engaging back in a conversation that, unbeknownst to me, would lead to the completion of the until-that-point seemingly unsolvable puzzle of my life.

INTERIOR. A BAR IN SOMERVILLE - NIGHT.

Sitting across from each other, conversation flowed TOO EASILY, punctuated by too-many HIGH FIVES and enough commonalities (She listens to “The Big Picture”?) to make me think… To make me KNOW that this what someone that I NEEDED to get to know!

And get to know her I would.

Sure, it would require me to overcome the surprisingly difficult task of finding my car in the labyrinth that is the Assembly Row Shopping Complex, and the even more impossible task of describing the dress-code for my mother’s birthday party… but there she remained.

A beautiful, brave, intelligent, funny, and above-all-else, a KIND person who, over the next year would make me feel emotions until-that-point completely foreign to me.

And then there was CLEMENTINE! Our baby-bear. Our beautiful terrorist. Our whole world.

It wasn’t long before she fit in perfectly with my family. Just as quickly, I would come to love hers. In just mere months we would expose each other to what made us both tick:

The most elaborate spreadsheets; The longest Springsteen songs; The intricacies of The Bravo-Verse; and The most obscure LETTERBOX’D films.

…And a love that I never thought possible!

Before long, it became entirely too easy to imagine OUR OWN FAMILY… The realization of the kind of love I had forever dreamt of, and for too-long given up on.

It became too easy to know that February 10th, 2023 would forever be the best day of my life. It became too easy to plan the suspense of December 23rd. And it became the easiest thing in the world to look forward to September 7th, 2024…The day that my life and family will become complete.

The day that I will marry the love of my life… MY MISSING PUZZLE PIECE…

My best friend… My Beautiful… My Sue!

Sue's Version:

Our eyes met across a quiet coffee shop on a snowy February night. We were both alone, sipping lattes and - as fate would have it - each reading a weathered copy of Romeo and Juliet (just kidding, we met on Hinge).

Dan doesn't know this, but when we first planned to meet in person, I chickened out. I told him I had a last minute work trip to New York and postponed the first date. It wasn't personal, I just wasn't a good dater. I read too many novels about serial killers, I listened to too many true crime podcasts and, frankly, I liked my alone time. After multiple pep talks with friends (and sharing my location with several of them), Dan and I got the first date back on the calendar.

As I was driving to the parking garage in Assembly Row, I passed a man I knew instantly was Dan - he was staring at a directory, scratching his head, trying to figure out how to get to our meeting spot. He also wasn't wearing a winter jacket. It was February. In Massachusetts. This was a man who had clearly lived in LA for 10 years.

Once we met (and, I think, shook hands(?)), we headed to the bar for a couple of drinks. The conversation was beyond natural - we had way too much in common...books, politics, podcasts - it just felt right. You know what didn't feel right? The high fives. There were a lot of them. Like...a lot. But I just chalked it up to him being nervous.

As we finished our second drink, he asked if I wanted another one. The date was going as well as possible, so of course I said no (too many true crime podcasts) and told him I needed to get home to my dog (an excuse I use to get out of literally everything). We ended the night with a hug (something I don't just GIVE out) and headed our separate ways to our cars.

I assumed I wouldn't hear from him for another 2-3 days. I was wrong. As I was pulling into my driveway after the date, my phone pinged. Apparently, Dan had lost his car. It had been 30 minutes since I left him and he was still wandering around the garage looking for his car. It took another 20 minutes before he found it and then another 35 minutes before he texted that he was home. For some reason, I found this truly adorable.

From there, the pieces just fell into place - Dan and I could talk for hours about anything. He feigned interest when I explained Bravo shows and humored me when I told him I'd never seen "Goodfellas" or "Heat." It was so easy to be together and I was on the cusp of realizing my dream - finding a partner who can sit quietly next to me and read on the couch.

Of course Clementine fell in love with him before I did - the relationship between Dan and Clem is so pure that I'm honestly a bit jealous. Clem has never greeted me with the same excitement as she does Dan (seriously) and she's never once cuddled with me the way she cuddles with Dan (no, it's cool, I'm not mad).

Dan is truly one of the kindest and most genuine people I've ever met. He would do anything to help out a friend or family. While his jokes don't always hit the mark, the zest and energy in which he delivers them is beyond endearing. He will spend 5 hours baking fresh bread and preparing a coursed meal before realizing that he really just wants popcorn for dinner. He makes the bed with such military precision, its awe inspiring. When he chuckles, it's one of my absolute favorite sounds in the world. He is my everything and I'm so excited to start my life with him.