The Story according to Allison:

I asked him on a breakfast date.  We'd met on Bumble, an online dating app a few weeks prior and I really liked Bryan.  He was charming, genuine and hilarious.  But, I'd seen how this story played out in the past, so I asked him to a breakfast date.  I mean, you have to be somewhat committed if you agree to a breakfast date, right?  I was quite nervous, actually.  I had my normal cup of coffee at home while getting ready and then upon meeting Bryan at one of my all time favorite local spots, Sunburst, I decided to order a latte along with my breakfast. 

Things were going smoothly, we were really hitting it off and it turned out that we had so many friends in common, both growing up in the Naples area, that it was wild that we had never actually met before while coming so close to crossing each other's paths in the past.  Then, all of a sudden my heart was racing quickly, I felt my hands shaking, and I was instantly re-centered on my newest bionic trials, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and new insulin pump I was trying out, thanks to my endocrinologist.  These symptoms were so familiar that I knew they were alarming me of a low blood sugar episode, yet my CGM clearly displayed an in-range glucose number.  How could that be?  Not trusting this new technology, I thought both my CGM and insulin pump were malfunctioning, how else could I feel this way? 

So in a panic, I decided to get up and get a muffin, Sunburst has world class muffins, yet I was clearly confusing Bryan as I had just finished explaining to him that I don't particularly love sweets and we had both finished our meals.  Talk about whip-lash.  But my heart was racing so fast and I felt so shaky that I feared to have a hypoglycemic scare, so I followed through with my plan.  After polishing off the muffin, I was still feeling those same symptoms and it occurred to me that maybe it was something else, entirely different than I thought, that was making me feel this way.  I considered my racing heart, and my shaky hands... then realized if it wasn't my blood glucose then it must be Bryan, or the caffeine, or perhaps even both!  Upon explaining the somewhat odd past 15 minutes, Bryan's confusion immediately turned to compassion as he listened and I could see that his heart was in the right place.   He continued to sit with me, continuing on without missing a beat while I calmed down and I thought, this is either going to be to the start of something great or the last time I ever see this guy again...

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The Story according to Bryan:

Late into my twenties I decided to try my hand at the ever-so romantic dating app known as "the Bumble". Naples is a small town and there's often only six degrees of separation between most people you meet and I was surprised to have not recognized Allison from my social circles at first glance. After countless swipes, and having to turn down hoards of women I was finally able to match with the one and only Allison Keevan, but there was a catch.

After exchanging pleasantries and getting past the small talk, Allison decided she wanted to go on a breakfast date. I. hate. breakfast. To make matters worse, when she asked me, I was celebrating a recent real estate closing with friends and I knew that I certainly wouldn't be at my prime come morning. However, gazing at Allison's infectious smile in her profile picture gave me the motivation I needed to get my degenerate rear-end out of bed and off to breakfast for a date with a gorgeous woman.

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Breakfast. What. an. experience. We enjoyed a quality meal from Sunburst Cafe (a must for those Naples folk that are reading) and we were engaged in stimulating conversation for what seemed like 10 minutes when in reality we had been there for two hours. Then, in a panic, Allison abruptly stood up and inquired if I wanted a muffin. In my head I thought "Uh, no lady. we literally just ate breakfast. Not only do I not like breakfast, I certainly don't want a muffin now that I'm full". Then I watched Allison scurry off towards the condiments. She then began opening honey packets and tried to discreetly consume a few while "waiting" in line. At this point I thought to myself "huh, I guess this is what online dating gets ya". Upon Allison's, very cute & very goofy, return she promptly informed me that she is a type one diabetic and that she was trying out some new hardware that she had yet to grow accustomed to. Mind you, this whole time I thought her racing heart and shaky hands were due to my rugged good looks, lightning fast wit and magnetic charm. Wrong.

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As it turns out Allison and I knew all of the same people around town and we had run into each other in the past. Earlier that year Allison and I were at a young professionals event where I had invited her to come hang out with some friends and I afterwards. She promptly turned that invitation down and I hadn't seen her since. However, after that first breakfast date I walked Alli to her forest green Mini Cooper, affectionately known as "Harry", to make sure she was ok to drive, and thought to myself "I have to see this girl again". Now we're getting married and she better not eat any honey packets at the reception, there might be muffins though.

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