“Legend has it that the gods tie an invisible red string around the pinky’s of two people destined to meet. It can get twisted and pulled, stretched and knotted but will never be broken. And no matter how far away they are or how long it takes, these two people will meet.” - Red String of Fate Their story begins on September 2022, Ryan was forced to work on a last minute project with Regena for a meeting he would later be told he did not need to attend. For those of you that don’t know, Ryan and Regena work for the same company, but he works in the Philly office and Regena, in the New York office. And they have been going the distance, traveling between state lines since December 2022. The first day Regena met Ryan (in person) she told everyone that it felt as though she tripped over that (invisible) string. She had been stuck in the meeting Ryan ended up not having to attend and needed a break, so left the room to go and grab her phone. As she was walking she heard this laugh and looked up to see him walking in her direction. He asked her how the meeting went, she said something sassy and continued walking (trying to play it cool). She got back to her desk and could not remember who, what, when, where, why or how. All she could think was “damn, he’s something special” but then immediately came back to reality thinking he’s a coworker that lives in Philly so why try. That would have been the end of their story if she had anything to do with it but the universe (and maybe Ryan) had a different plan. They had 2 days of team outings planned after work. The first night was a team dinner at Catch and the second night was at a French restaurant, L’Express. If you were to ask them where they started, it would be that French restaurant. The one on 20th street that they walked to from 46th. The one where they had 10 espresso martinis and shared their first “meal” together (green beans, Brussel sprouts and French fries). The one where they sat at a table filled with people but spent the entire night talking to each other. The one where Ryan faked that he had a headache so he could walk with Regena to get Tylenol from Walgreens. The one where time flew by but also stood still. The night that they both knew could not be the end of their journey. And it wasn’t. They spent the next few months talking every minute of the day, moving from teams in the daytime to their personal phones in the night time. Their talks were (and still are) a mixed bag, they’d go from talking about the random moments in their days to the types of cheeses that Ryan hated and Regena’s dislike for onions to thinking about a life that they wanted to build together. Our lives are often marked by special dates, it’s the moment that something happens that makes an impact on you forever. On December 15th 2022 they had their first date and ever since then they haven’t stopped adding on to the special moments. Regena always believed in the idea of the red string, that somewhere out there everyone has that one person, their person and when you meet them, you just know…on March 1st 2024, Ryan asked Regena to marry him and they began the start of their forever. From the moment they met they always knew what they wanted and that has brought them on so many adventures together. From New York to Philly, Ireland to Bali, Block Island to West Virginia, Mexico to Puerto Rico, they’ve had many adventures together, but their most exciting one starts on May 17th 2025.