Zain and Tania met in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Texas Children’s hospital in 2018. Zain was completing neurosurgery residency while Tania was working as a nurse. Tania saw Zain performing a surgical procedure in his crocodile boots and scrubs and fell in love at first sight. She then obsessed over him for a month before finally giving him her number scribbled in sharpie on an alcohol pad in the elevator bay outside of the ICU. He texted her and asked her to coffee ten minutes later. On their first date that night, he asked Tania to come to Hawaii with him and mentioned hiking the Na'pali coast together. He asked her to be his girlfriend 2 weeks later, knowing she would be leaving to travel the world for 8 months and then starting medical school, possibly out of state. They chose each other and left the rest up to the Universe!

Remember that hike through the Na'pali Coast that Zain invited Tania on during their first date? They finally went on it in June 2021. Zain proposed on a meadow with ocean views, "the green place", at mile 10. He hid the ring inside of a geode that he found and made into a ring box. He sneakily put the geode down and then told Tania they should try to find geodes in the meadow. It would have been perfect, except Zain forgot where he put it!!! Luckily, Tania's rock-loving trained eyes found the geode! They then spent 5 magical days camping on a beach waking up to the sounds of birds and exploring the jungle in the valley.