When Maddie walked into UChicago’s Math Camp for mathematically deficient policy school candidates, they complimented Carly’s shirt. Carly fell head over heels in love and spent the next 6 months telling Maddie her feelings repeatedly and with growing levels of passion.

Over the course of their early courtship, Maddie and Carly ostracized and alienated many a friend, all of whom will be in attendance at the wedding, by loudly laughing and singing together at every opportunity. While they trudged their way through an academic courseload that flattened them both emotionally, the two would find joy in marathon musical theatre sessions, beating comedic dead horses incessantly, and marching around the backyard.

Then, everything changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The two young lovers spent 5 hours a day on Zoom calls, and the rest of the day sending each other memes and other romantic accoutrement. Maddie and Carly weren’t ready to make it official, however, until they were able to see each other in person. To avoid using the word “girlfriend,” they alternately called each other “good friend” or “my bitch wife.” To this day, the latter moniker remains in the contact information on each of their phones.

On June 24, 2020, Carly flew to Maddie’s family home in Buffalo to reunite with her beloved, finally asking Maddie to be her partner. The two enjoyed a beautiful week in the City of Good Neighbors, not yet knowing that it would come to be their home.

After a whirlwind second year of graduate studies, very little of which was spent studying, the two moved into their first hovel—er, apartment—in Little Village. Although the space was clinically tiny, the two had plenty of fun allowing their dog Mazy to terrorize the geese at Douglas Park, developing a friendship with their lovely upstairs neighbors (including a perfect newborn and an enormous pitbull), and developing a love of Rockstar Games.

When they felt they had outgrown the 300 square feet that comprised their home, the two began to hunt for greener pastures, eventually landing their job search in Buffalo, New York (Go Bills)!!!!

In the years since, the two have been lucky to be surrounded by incredible community, from their loving families to their chosen family. They spend their days gigglin’, singin’, partyin’, and managing a menagerie of animals in the home. If you stand on the sidewalk of Sterling Avenue between Linden and Hertel, you may just hear the shrieks of delight and the sounds of music wafting down to you. Just ask Carly and Maddie’s landlord!