About four years ago, Rachel answered a Hinge prompt unaware it would lead to her two great loves.

What’s on your 2020 bucket list?
“Getting a dog.”

Charlie’s opener was simple: “What kind of dog? I’ll go pick it out with you.”

Direct. Not too serious. A question about a topic Rachel had, unbeknownst to Charlie, spent hours contemplating. She typed back:

“I like ones that look kind of like wolves.”

(Charlie eventually made good on his offer, but that’s another story.)

They spent their first date – and their second the following day – talking about their lives in Chicago, their careers in journalism and PR, and whether "the coronavirus” would ever reach the Midwest.

When it did, Rachel and Charlie didn’t question whether they wanted to be in each other’s pandemic “pods.” It felt natural. They liked being around each other, and they didn’t want to stop … even though this technically violated the governor’s stay-at-home order.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and the more that time became warped, the clearer Rachel and Charlie’s future together became.

Charlie’s sardonic humor complemented Rachel’s absurdist bend. Rachel’s determination made Charlie feel like big problems and little ones would all be navigable. They wanted the same stuff out of life. Basically the only thing they disagreed about was whether they were obligated to keep watching a TV show they’d started and didn’t like.

(They still disagree about this.)

Rachel and Charlie spent the next few years making career changes, raising that dog, moving in together, traveling a lot, and eating very well. They supported each other. They made each other laugh. And when they both looked out at the world, they pretty much saw the same thing.

One Saturday in September 2023, Charlie asked Rachel if she wanted to spend the morning at Promontory Point in Chicago’s Hyde Park.

With the engagement ring velcroed into his swim trunks, Charlie proposed to Rachel right after the two jumped into Lake Michigan ­­-- and that’s where you come in.