It started with a message, a game, and a little bit of curiosity.

Our story didn’t begin with love at first sight or some grand romantic gesture. It began with a group of friends on Discord, a few conversations, and two people who had no idea how important they would become to each other.

We had known each other for a while, but in the summer of 2022, something started to change. We began talking more, and somehow, GeoGuessr became our favourite way to spend time together. What started as a few innocent games turned into hours of laughter, conversations about everything and nothing, and phone calls that lasted well into the morning.

Neither of us admitted it back then, but we were both making little excuses to spend more time together. Just one more game, one more guess, one more conversation. Even when we were exhausted, neither of us really wanted to say goodnight.

Eventually, talking through a screen wasn’t enough anymore.

In October 2022, Danesh flew to Toronto to meet Lisa in person. We had spent so many hours talking that we thought we knew exactly what it would be like. But when the moment finally came, we were both nervous, shy, and a little awkward. It makes us smile looking back at it now.

By the next day, though, something had changed. The nervousness was gone, replaced by a feeling of warmth and comfort that neither of us wanted to lose. We could laugh together, be quiet together, and just be ourselves. All those feelings that had grown through endless calls suddenly became something real. And somewhere during those days in Toronto, we knew this was becoming something very special.

That December, Lisa flew to Vancouver to spend our first Christmas together and meet Danesh’s family. She was incredibly nervous. Meeting the family of someone you love is a big moment, especially when you’re still getting used to the idea of just how much that person means to you.

But all that nervousness slowly disappeared. Danesh’s family welcomed Lisa with so much kindness and warmth that Vancouver, a city far from everything she knew, began to feel a little like home.

We spent Christmas together, enjoying the simple happiness of being in the same place, without a screen or a countdown until our next call. We didn’t need anything extraordinary. Just being together was enough.

And then came the part we had both been dreading.

The drive to the airport was quiet, except for the moments when neither of us could hold back our tears. We cried on the way there, knowing that in a few hours we’d be on opposite sides of the country again. And when we finally reached security, saying goodbye felt almost impossible.

We didn’t want another phone call. We didn’t want to count the days until the next flight. We just wanted to stay together.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of our story of airport goodbyes. It was the beginning of finding a way to make sure we wouldn’t have to keep saying them.

In April 2023, we finally began living together in Vancouver. After months of distance, late-night calls, and missing each other, we got to experience all the little things we’d been wishing for. Waking up knowing the other person was there. Spending evenings together without watching the clock. Being able to reach for each other’s hand instead of reaching for the phone.

And slowly, we built a life that felt entirely our own.

In August 2024, we moved into our own place. Over time, that home became filled with our routines, our laughter, our shared love of quiet evenings, and eventually, the company of our two cats, Sonya and Yin.

We’re both happiest in the little moments. Staying home together, laughing over something silly, sharing a meal, or simply being in the same room doing our own things. We don’t need every day to be exciting. Some of our favourite days are the ones when nothing particularly special happens, except that we get to spend them together.

When we look back at everything, it’s funny to think how easily our paths could have stayed those of two people in the same Discord friend group. How a simple game brought us closer, how neither of us wanted to be the first to say goodnight, and how those little excuses to spend time together eventually became a whole life.

We used to stay up all night finding reasons to spend another hour together.

Now, we get to come home to each other every day.

And as we get ready to marry each other, that is still our favourite part of this story.