Mike and Tatiana’s journey began like so many other millennial couples’ these days, on a dating app. Hooray for the internet! This unlikely pairing of a Maryland native and Californian doctoral candidate (in Maryland for her clinical psychology internship) was sparked in the Summer of 2018, when a message from Mike found it’s way to Tatiana, where it then sat unread in her overflowing Hinge inbox for approximately 3 to 4 weeks. Mike’s heart in limbo, he anxiously awaited Tatiana’s reply. “Did she mean to swipe left instead of right?” “Have musicians somehow acquired a dicey reputation?” The questions piled up in his mind, and just as he began to consider giving up, <ding/vibrate> a notification from “Tatiana, age 28” popped up on Mike’s phone. One message led to another and soon Tatiana was smitten with this intriguing heavy metal dog dad and agreed to a date with Mike. Mike convinced Tatiana to take a break from her dissertation for a casual Monday evening meetup at local spot, which would be the first time this pair would meet in person. Tatiana claims this was the best break she’s ever taken. The two quickly bonded and fell in love. Fast forward to about a year later and Tatiana relocated from her Owings Mills apartment to Mike’s house in Baltimore. Mike and Tatiana spent the next two years making a home together, managing Covid lockdowns, and having adventures with their fur babies Gunter (woof!) and Storm (meow!). It did not take long for them to know, they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.