Boy meets girl. They fall in love. They get married. Simple, right?

But what happens if that girl and boy are separated by 900 miles, work in different professions, and would never have met if not for a chance introduction?

That’s the real story of Matt and Malieka.

In September of 2020, as the world was still in the thick of the pandemic, Matt received an email from one of his musical collaborators. It said:

Hey Matt,

Quick question for ya! I produced this song for a friend but I don't feel confident with the mixing and mastering to bring it to "radio ready" level, so I wanted to ask you what you'd charge to do that? Check out the attached and let me know your thoughts when you get the chance.

Thanks so much!

Juliet

Matt wrote back to Juliet, saying, “no problem” without realizing the course of events that would transpire from that one little innocuous email. Juliet’s friend, was - of course - Malieka. And upon finishing her song and emailing her the final track, Matt received a very nice thank-you email from Malieka which included her official email signature: “Malieka Johnson, D.D.S.”

At this point, Matt’s brain began a series of miniature explosions. DDS? Isn’t that a medical acronym for “dentist”? He commenced Google searching. Sure enough. DDS = doctor of dental surgery. Matt wondered what type of dentist would also work on music, and also marveled at the speed in which she paid for his production services. So the next Google search was for "Malieka Johnson" herself, and the search results started Matt’s heart pitter-pattering.

She was not only a dentist who dabbled in music who’d won all sorts of awards and received very high accolades in the dental community, but she was also jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Over the next two years, Matt and Malieka maintained sporadic communication, sometimes working together on musical projects, sometimes just sending hello’s. But when Matt decided to pursue bodybuilding in the Spring of 2022, their communication became more frequent. Matt’s random pursuit of getting on stage in a physique competition struck a chord with Malieka, who’d had that very thing on her own personal bucket list for years. Their communication went from business & music emails, to more personal texts and check-in’s, and Malieka would always text Matt good luck in each of his initial competitions. She was, in fact, his only non-family friend to do so!

But after two years of talking, they still hadn’t met face-to-face. That didn’t happen until November 2022, when they both attended a music conference. Sparks flew from their opening hug, and Matt thought to himself, “this girl is just as great in person as I’d expected”. Then on the heels of that, his next thought was, “what does it matter? She lives 900 miles away…”

When they said good-bye on the last day of the conference as Malieka was headed to the parking lot, Matt whispered into her ear, “I’d really like to see you again”, and much to his surprise, Malieka’s response was, “let’s make it happen”.

It turns out 900 miles - the distance from Nampa Idaho to San Diego California is easily traversed in a 4 hour Southwest flight (including layovers), and anywhere from $300 - $400 in airfare. Small price to pay for a couple of curious middle-aged professionals who had somehow never been married, but realized they might be on to something special.

After their first extended one-on-one time together, they enjoyed each other’s company so much that they made plans to meet up every month, and would take turns going to the other person’s house. So, for the next year, they alternated months and trips, and a long-distance relationship was off to the races. The lovebirds realized that they may have finally found “the one”.

Nine more months went by, and the relationship race was so enjoyable, that Matt decided to cross the finish line by proposing to Malieka in her kitchen in September 2023 (he’d planned on doing it much more romantically, but those plans didn’t quite transpire the way he expected them to!). Malieka emphatically said yes!

Which brings us to here - the union of two people who would have never met had it not been for a random email. You could say “God works in mysterious ways”, or “the universe has its own plans”, or even “thank goodness for innocent introductions”. Whatever your belief, Matt and Malieka are happily head-over-heels in love, and can’t wait to have you at their wedding and/or reception(s)!

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