Maxwell Quested Wolkin thought he’d found a fellow baseball fan when he noticed Olivia Ida Russin wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers jacket in a photo on her OkCupid profile.
But after they contacted the dating website in May 2014, he was dismayed to learn that she was more of a fan of the jacket than the sport.
That didn’t stop them from chatting further. A few weeks later, they met for a first date at a pizza place near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. They continued chatting over snacks and drinks before taking an afternoon stroll through Prospect Park and then stopping at another restaurant, this one French, for escargot.
Although baseball was not a common bond, the other two found points of connection. Both grew up on the West Coast (Mrs. Russin in Los Angeles, Mr. Wolkin in San Francisco), they have a mutual passion for creative pursuits (music for her, film for him) and, as Mr. Wolkin put it, share an appreciation for a “Jewish sense of humor”.
At the end of their first date, he took her to the subway and they shared a kiss before breaking up.
“It felt like a unique find in terms of a match of our rhythms,” said Mr Wolkin. “To be both kind of laid-back Californians on one level and rowdy, insane people on another level, you know?”
They eventually realized their compatibility had its limitations: Ms. Russin, who is in a band, likes to stay out late, while Mr. Wolkin is an early riser. But “he would make getting up early fun,” said Ms. Russin, by scheduling morning activities, such as bird-watching excursions. “He took things that I thought were a little old and made them feel young and fresh.”
Three months after their dating, in August 2014, the two attended a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game on Coney Island. Then, as they walked along the Steeplechase Pier, they agreed to be exclusive.
At the time, each lived in different parts of Brooklyn, she in Bushwick and he in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. They visited each other for two years, often on multiple trains or buses, before Mrs. Russin became the main commuter when Mr. Wolkin bought a studio apartment in Prospect Lefferts Gardens in September 2016.
By this time, the couple had fallen into a groove and enjoyed a relationship that allowed them to live separately and maintain their creative passions. But as they got closer, they realized they didn’t want that much physical distance between them.
In the spring of 2019, Mr. Wolkin wanted to sell his studio and buy a one-bedroom apartment to live in. Shortly after, he realized he wanted to bond with Ms. Russin before they put a mortgage together.
On a quiet gray morning in January 2020, Mr. Wolkin suggested a trip to Coney Island for pizza and birdwatching. After lunch they walked up Steeplechase Pier and saw a surf scoter, a large scoter, bobbing in the icy water. Mrs. Russin peered at them through binoculars, and when she turned to offer them to Mr. Wolkin, he was on one knee.
Two months later, the pandemic brought the city to a standstill. They still lived separately and cycled to visit each other until May 2020, when Mr. Wolkin sold his studio. That month, after living separately for six years, they moved into a sublet together.
Mr Wolkin, 33, is now the director of the exhibition at Film Movement, an independent film distributor. Ms. Russin, 30, is the design coordinator at Rizzoli International Publications, an art book publisher.
In April 2021, the two moved into a one-bedroom apartment they bought in Windsor Terrace. Three months later, they adopted a Beagle basset, which they named Valentine.
They had already postponed their wedding once due to the pandemic, from the summer of 2021 to this June, where they had decided to wed at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island.
But Covid would derail them again. On the morning they were due to get married, Ms. Russin woke up feeling unwell and took a Covid test. It was positive. When she saw the result, she cried and started texting family and friends to cancel the event.
Despite the setback, they remained determined to get married. On June 30, when it was safe to do so, they were married at the New York City Clerk’s Office in Brooklyn. Waldo Ramirez, a city office staffer, performed and Max Branigan, the couple’s friend, acted as a witness and photographer.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds celebrated at a nearby Shake Shack to cheers from employees and customers.