Cindy and Alex met online. Usually this means the couple began their relationship by lamenting the distance, but no such thing happened for them. Cindy was the admin of an obscure and niche music group on Facebook, and Alex was one of the members. This was 2016, and they did not formally speak until 2020. In 2020, Cindy "re-discovered" who Alex was, after watching many of her Facebook friends comment on his statuses about random philosophers he was reading. She was intrigued and curious and sent a friend request. They both developed a quiet but unspoken crush for each other, especially after discussing things they both loved, like cyberpunk and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following year, Alex decided to move to New York City. Upon first glance, they fell in love.

So much of our relationship has had beautiful coincidences that have strengthened our faith. That is to say, we knew we were meant to be. Here are a few: - When Alex first met Cindy, he had been considering converting to Catholicism. Cindy, being a very extra person, decided to "go big or go home," and took him to St. Patrick's Cathedral one Saturday afternoon. Upon entering, the first Mass that Alex ever encountered was a Wedding Mass. Upon leaving, on a grimey New York day, full of humidity and angst was a group of pigeons, where in the center standing silently was one pure white dove. - Alex had moved into an apartment in the Upper West Side. Coincidentally, Cindy had been signed up for RCIA there to receive the sacrament of Confirmation at a church a block and a half away from his apartment. The only reason she picked it was because some Reddit commenter said "my wife liked it there." -One day after a Mass there was a homeless man asking for money outside a coffee shop. Cindy decided to give him a dollar, and after he thanked her, she saw his Lady of Guadalupe pin in the center of his shirt, which prompted him to talk about his daily Rosary prayer, and then sing them various renditions of Frank Sinatra. The day before Cindy and Alex got engaged, they saw the same man in another part of the city, upon which he remarked that we were sent to remind him to pray that day. He then proceeded to sing "Strangers in the Night," a vaguely prophetic song for the nature of their relationship.

Alex proposed to Cindy on August 6th, 2022, at The National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia in Philadelphia, PA. Saint Rita is Cindy's favorite saint. We celebrated by eating at the country's oldest Italian restaurant, walking around the scenes where the Flying High now scene was filmed in Rocky. We love Italians.