We were initially introduced through a friend–the internet age version–in the spring of 2016. On a dating app called Hinge that matched people based on their mutual friends, Annie Woodward (Bridesmaid, Chris’s sister from another mister) served as the proverbial hinge pin that brought them together.

On our first date, it became clear the odds were very much stacked against a long relationship. Emily had just signed a contract to move across the world to Australia for a job at the end of the summer, leaving just 4 months until her departure. If that wasn’t enough, Chris was just about to go backpacking in Nepal for the better part of the next month, shrinking our already short window of time together even further. Fortunately, we chose to largely ignore the unfavorable timing and circumstances, and instead decided to let the remaining time we did have together be driven by the obvious sparks we felt. After making the most of that first summer together, despite Chris pointing out to Emily that she was likely to miss the Cubs’ first world series in over 100 years if she left, the time had come for Emily to fulfill the commitment she made. Again, knowing the odds were stacked against us, we decided to give the longest of long distance relationships a shot.

Over the course of the next year, aside from Emily making one trip home for Christmas and Chris making one trip out to Australia, we maintained our relationship exclusively through written letters and regular FaceTime calls during hours when most other people in our respective time zones were sleeping. As we were coming up on a full year of living on opposite sides of the planet, it was clear we needed to be back in the same place, so Emily made her move back to the states. Re-energized by making it through a year spent half a world apart and finally being back in the same city once again, we spent the next three years doing all the things we had talked about during our hundreds of off-hours FaceTime calls. We made up for lost time with each other’s family and friends. There were countless concerts, bike rides, and camping trips. We traveled, each introducing the other to some of our favorite places, and exploring many new ones together.

At the beginning of 2020, Chris mustered the courage to ask Emily’s parents for their blessing. Consistent with the unfavorable timing and circumstances surrounding our very first meeting, the week Chris planned to propose just happened to coincide with the spread of Covid-19 swiftly bringing the world to a halt. Fortunately, Chris managed to sneak the proposal in on the very last day before the entire world shut down. After making it through the last 2+ years–quarantine, a cross-country move, one postponed wedding, and more, we could not be more excited to finally celebrate our marriage with our family and friends!