How We Met

It was a rainy Tuesday in October 2019 when Emma ducked into a small coffee shop in San Francisco's Mission District to escape the downpour. The only open seat was across from a guy who was deeply absorbed in a crossword puzzle -- James.

"Is this seat taken?" Emma asked. James looked up, and as he tells it, completely forgot the seven-letter word for 'serendipity.' They spent the next three hours talking about everything from their shared love of terrible puns to their childhood dreams of becoming marine biologists.

They exchanged numbers, and what started as a coffee date became dinner, which became a weekend hike, which became the rest of their lives.