Bonding over a shared love of modern rock and indie folk and excitement about working with young people and exploring Philadelphia, they were friends when the night ended.

They stopped hosting Memorial Day in 2018, after the 40th annual bash, but every birthday and holiday becomes an instant party when you have six children and a growing gaggle of grandchildren.

They have together celebrated so many joys: a slew of births and birthdays, weddings, career triumphs, retirements

When Justin saw Shae forging relationships not only with his siblings, but with their children, he knew that he and Shae would one day marry.

She knew her Aunt Pat – technically her mother’s cousin – needed help that the family was struggling to find.

Keith was determined to plan something way beyond “enough.”

Alex also had a good feeling about this woman who appreciated Chewie, and a conversation started during the Flip Cup portion of the festivities.

Asking about social distancing particulars can feel uncomfortable when you’ve met only through Zoom. But do you really want to risk getting COVID-19 from someone you might never see again?

“There were not a lot of brown or black people in Fishtown, but that is where we started our lives,” Kim said.

Maurice Small, 32, proposed to Tanesha Pennington, his girlfriend of 8 years, in the intersection of 52nd and Chestnut, as a line of police officers with riot shields looked on.

In mid-March, they gambled on potential and committed to quarantine together rather than ride out the pandemic alone.

“But after we were together, we gravitated toward adoption,” Nathan says. “We wanted to be on equal footing, without the idea that one of us was the ‘real’ father.”

“Our biggest concern was that she would still want to go out, go shopping, and live the life she loves to live in Center City,” said daughter Suzy.