Justin and I first met at a clergy retreat. I thought he was cute, but assumed he was too young to date and/or be interested in me. Over the course of the retreat, we had only one memorable interaction: an intense fight about s'mores. Over the next few months, we only had contact once, when he DMe’d me on Instagram to make fun of a video of me tubing on the lake.

If you thought the fact that we met at clergy retreat was the extent of the Coptic-ness of our story, think again! At yet another retreat (Fall GYP), we finally talked for an extended time. I thought I might be crazy for wanting to date someone so much younger and was very hesitant to show interest. On the Saturday of the retreat I was sitting with my friends at the park watching people play volleyball - which happened to include Justin. I asked my friends if dating someone 2 1/2 years younger was creepy, insane, or stupid. They answered resoundingly “no”, so I went to join Justin in volleyball, at which point he promptly left the game.

Undeterred, I approached him (yes, I walked to him, it was very embarrassing) after dinner and we talked at length. The only thing I remember from the conversation is that he at some point said talking to me was like being stuck in a ditch (boring). Nevertheless, he talked to me on Instagram all that week; a situation that was actually very stressful for me given my 20 minute instagram screen time limit per day.

Thankfully, we ran into each other at a wedding the next Saturday. I turned on the charm as much as I could, desperately trying to be more interesting than a ditch. I must have been just good enough, because Justin asked me out over instagram (what do you expect from Gen Z?) on his drive home, with quite a bit of help from his sister. And we lived happily ever after, the end.

This story starts where any good coptic love story must start, at a clergy retreat surrounded by a sea of black. Katie was a chaperone for the high-schoolers, and I had finally decided to go to my first clergy retreat. I can honestly say I noticed her as soon as I walked in, she was standing by the rooms where they kept the supplies and hosted events for the high-schoolers. I loved that she was serving the high-schoolers, who I know from first hand experience can be a handful (not to mention the fact that these were PK high-schoolers). Later in the retreat, I remember getting into a heated debate about roasting marshmallows - not about how to roast them, but about giving people the right to let them choose how to roast them. That kind of nuance is exactly what attracted me to her. Needless to say I took every chance I could to try and join the high school events that retreat. I remember walking around Sea World hoping I would bump into her group, but sadly I didn't :/ I finally had my moment when we did a joint college and high school scavenger hunt in San Diego. Sadly I did not get on Katie’s team, but I got on Marina’s (her Mom), which turned out to be critical. We all did the same quests in waves, and Katie’s group was ahead of me. Fortunately Marina was also super motivated for the hunt, so we made a great team. That was right up until we caught Katie’s team at a giant statue. At that point I suddenly became exhausted and had to start walking, I mean it was a really hot day. Marina went on without me, and I unofficially joined Katie’s team. Unfortunately the story ends there and nothing happened. I found out later she thought I was too young at that point, tragic.

Scavenger hunt:

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), young Justin didn’t know that at the time, so he turned to instagram, as any young millennial does. I added her and swiped up on her story to make conversation. We talked for a month or so, but it eventually fizzled out. I found out later that when she said I only have 10 minutes a day on IG, I was supposed to ask for her number - who knew?!

As fate would have it, we were reunited at the GYP retreat some months later! This is where you’d expect me to say we picked up right where we left off, but that wasn't the case at all. This time she actually appeared aware and interested! We had lots of good conversations there and spent most of the time talking to each other. Georgina Soliman claims she called the whole thing, but regardless I’m glad she confirmed to me that Katie actually seemed interested. It was like talking to a whole different person. Shoutout Matthew Hanna, Maria Morgan, Meray Beshai, Verena Gayed, and anyone else in the group who later informed me they had an enlightening conversation with Katie where they told her it was ok to date someone younger; crazy the effect friends can have.

Fate struck again when I found out we were both going to Natalie Bishay’s (at the time) wedding just one week after the GYP retreat ended. She knew I was interested when I explicitly asked her that (over IG, still hadn't gotten the hint yet). We had more good conversations at Natalie’s wedding, and the topic of favorite desserts came up: she loved cupcakes and I hated them (this is important later I promise). Later that night on the way home I was driving with Anna (my sister) and I decided it was finally time to ask her out. I dictated to Anna what to write, who promptly told me I sounded like a robot. She advised that I reference something personal, so I worked in a reference to Sprinkles cupcakes. I maintain that this was still all my doing! The message was as follows: “Hey it was great to see you today, I really enjoyed talking to you. Can’t wait to see you again sometime, maybe we can try a good cupcake place and you can change my mind” (Justin Soliman, 2024). I’m pleased to inform you we met at Sprinkles cupcakes 2 days later on 11/11/24. Regrettably she did not change my mind about cupcakes, I still hate them.