At a bar in New York City in March of 2016, Matthew walked up to Rachele and said hello. While their friends hit it off, Rachele and Matthew began to talk and learn more about each other. However, it was only a platonic conversation, as Rachele was spoken for at this time. They both went their separate ways that night without ever knowing what would be. A few months later, in all of New York City, they somehow ran into each other again and that was beginning of something neither of them could have imagined.

They spent an amazing summer together, before Matthew had to go off to Israel for medical school. While Rachele and Matthew didn’t date that first year apart, they left a mark on each other and kept in touch throughout the year. They got to truly know one another as friends through long conversations over the phone with an ocean keeping them apart.

The summer after Matthew’s first year of medical school, Rachele was interning at L.L. Bean all the way up in Maine. Unable to get this “Italian girl” out of his head, Matthew drove up those 8.5 hours to see Rachele, spending the weekend together enjoying nature and hiking along the Atlantic Ocean. That summer changed things and they decided to make their relationship official, voluntarily pushing themselves against all odds and launching themselves into a long distance relationship.

Thankfully, Rachele started her year abroad in Florence, Italy. Countless flights were made between Tel Aviv and Florence that year, with meetings in Paris mixed in the middle. Rachele moved back to NYC after her year abroad, making their long distance relationship just a little longer. Rachele and Matthew found a way to get through medical school, 6,000 miles apart, and a 7 hour time difference. Then at last in July 2020, Rachele and Matthew were finally reunited for good when Matthew matched into residency at Mount Sinai in NYC.

Fast forward a few years and on June 28th, 2022, Matthew got down on one knee in the middle of the Hudson river with a view of that same city that brought them together all those nights ago.