Susanna was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, and is the oldest of two children. From a young age, Susanna loved books, diving into whatever she could get her hands on. She enjoyed exploring all corners of Mississippi with her parents, traveling to Washington, D.C., to visit family, and walking Archie around Belhaven. Susanna loved politics and current events, and moved to Washington to study government at Georgetown University. While at Georgetown, Susanna led the Institute of Politics and Public Service, served in leadership of Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority, and was an editor for The Hoya newspaper. Along the way, she made deep and lasting friendships, never missing a chance to go to Curry and Pie or run along the waterfront. She met her future husband just a few months before graduation. When she left Georgetown, she moved to New York to work for the District Attorney, after which she began pursuing her J.D. at New York University School of Law. During her three years at NYU, Susanna fell in love with tax law and her home in Brooklyn Heights. She now works as a tax attorney at a law firm in Manhattan. In her free time, she still loves reading anything and everything, following local politics, traveling, running, and falling asleep with her head on Ryan’s shoulder.

Ryan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. The oldest of two siblings, family was important to Ryan from a young age. Growing up, he enjoyed playing sports, singing, acting, and spending time with his parents, younger brother, and dogs. He loved his chances to travel with family or on school trips and cherished his summers at camp in North Carolina. He developed a keen interest in history and politics. Ryan attended Georgetown University to study international politics. There, he immersed himself in the nation’s capital, developed lifelong friendships, sang with The Georgetown Chimes at countless functions, and, in the spring of his junior year, met his future wife. After graduating from Georgetown, he joined Susanna in New York City and began working in civil rights law. New York quickly felt like home, with its endless supply of new restaurants, cultures, and experiences. Ryan is now in his second year of study at Columbia Law School. When he is not studying the law, he enjoys traveling, watching football and basketball, reading about history, running, cooking, and holding Susanna’s hand while they walk around Brooklyn.

Susanna and Ryan met in the spring of 2021, in a course on political parties taught on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. They quickly went from classmates to friends, working together on a podcast about Southern politics for the final project of the semester. Ryan spent a small portion of his 21st birthday messaging with Susanna about their final papers. A month later, in mid-June, Ryan asked Susanna to dinner. Despite having just accepted a job in New York and only having six weeks left living in Washington, Susanna took a chance. It was a sure thing from the very start, and they fell in love quickly and deeply. Less than six weeks later, when Susanna moved to New York, they knew they would one day get married.

They spent the next year traveling on Amtrak between New York and Washington to visit each other, cherishing short weekends exploring the two cities they loved so much. When they were apart, they spoke on FaceTime every night. They became a part of each other’s families. When Ryan graduated Georgetown in 2022, they celebrated his move to New York and the renewed chance to live in the same city.

In the years since, Susanna and Ryan have settled into life in their home in Brooklyn Heights. They have worked, studied, and laughed with friends old and new. They have seen Broadway shows and bought a lot of bagels. They have seen their teams win championships, friends get married, and have entered new phases of life. They have traveled the world and seen new places, but have always loved the comforts of the beach in Rehoboth and Falmouth and time with family in Atlanta and Jackson. After years of certainty, they got engaged in Brooklyn in October 2024.