Welcome.

Like so many modern-day romances, ours began on an online dating app. Tinder, to be specific. Both Kathryn and Les had been using Tinder for a few months... with greatly mixed results. Kathryn hastens to add that her results were less "mixed," and more "exasperating, verging on dreadful." In fact, she strongly contemplated hanging it up for a few months because "yikes, maybe it's me." So she gave herself a deadline: the end of October. If she didn't meet anyone before then who had at least some potential, she would take a break until after New Year's. On October 23, as she sat down to dinner (alone), her phone made the cute little Tinder notification noise. But it wasn't just an ordinary match notification: it was a "Super Like." Now, for those of you not familiar with Tinder (God bless you), giving a "Super Like" is a way to let someone know that you're especially interested in them. The Super Like-r offers this flirtatious invitation by swiping with an upward motion on Super Like-ee's profile. Users are limited to just one a day, so they must be dispensed with careful discernment. Kathryn opened the app and saw a very handsome man smiling back at her. Cute, she thought. His profile described his enthusiasm for many typical "guy" things (golf, the Patriots, gaming, "hanging with friends"), but also "cooking, lazy Sundays, enjoying all things Fall related." He also stated that he was "looking for someone with whom I can really connect and develop a meaningful relationship." Meanwhile, Kathryn's profile said something about enjoying fine whiskey and wanting to learn to play the banjo. Oh, and that she was also looking for "something real," as distant a possibility as that felt. She accepted his invitation, and he opened the chat with a line about whiskey. They arranged to meet for drinks on October 30, just one day shy of the deadline. The rest, they say, is history. Kathryn is still thinking about taking up the banjo.