Ryan Seenanan and Julie Amber Koontz became fast friends when they met at work in April 2019 in the break room of Walker and Associates, a telecommunications distributor now known as Netceed.
“Julie was such a ray of sunshine,” Seenanan said. “Her positivity and joy were so contagious, and her smile lit up the room.”
“Ryan was a naturally energetic person that I wanted as my friend,” Koontz said.
Neither was looking for romance. Koontz was married and trying to start a family with her husband, Landon, whom she married in 2017. They lived in Lexington, N.C., about 15 minutes from work. Seenanan, then also living in Lexington, was recently single following a long-term relationship and uninterested in dating so soon.
Their jobs had them working together regularly, and the more they interacted, the closer they became. “We opened up about our personal lives and shared upbringings in North Carolina,” Seenanan said. “And we got a kick out of trading jokes.”
The two also discovered a mutual love of cooking and marine biology.
Koontz became pregnant that August, but when her son, Tate, was born in April 2020, the pandemic kept her and Seenanan apart as they worked remotely.
Caught up with juggling her job and parenthood, she said her friendship with Seenanan felt like a “distant memory.” He, though, said Koontz had become a daily presence in his life, and he missed having her around.
Over the next 18 months, Koontz’s marriage fell apart, and she and Landon legally separated in October 2021. The following January, she learned that he had died by suicide. “My life unraveled,” she said. “I don’t know the reasons he died and what was going on in his mind at the time.”
Seenanan, 30, grew up in the Bronx, N.Y., and Lexington, N.C. He is a sales executive in the Winston-Salem, N.C., office of Netceed, which is headquartered in East Brunswick, N.J. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Koontz, also 30, is from Asheboro, N.C. She is an executive coordinator working remotely for her sister, Jen Hamilton, a labor and delivery nurse, best-selling author and content creator. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and Spanish from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
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Koontz described the months after Landon’s death as “fuzzy.” Back in the office on a hybrid schedule, she buried herself in work. “I remember feeling the weight of being a mom and dad,” she said.
Her rekindled friendship with Seenanan was a source of solace. “Ryan stayed steady, present, asking nothing, simply there through the darkest stretch of my life,” she said.
“I could feel the weight of her pain, and I tried to bring her light by making her laugh,” Seenanan said.
He described their relationship as “growing closer to a new level.” By summer 2022, Seenanan said he had completely “fallen for her.” They had yet to hang out outside of work, but in July, he summoned the courage to ask her for drinks. They met at a bar in downtown Lexington, where they spent three hours catching up about their lives during the pandemic.
Koontz also opened up about the pain she had lived with over the previous several months. “Ryan made my grief feel a lot more bearable,” she said. “I realized how dynamic he was, and it was clear to us both that this was something more than friendship.”
They met again a few days later when Seenanan came over to her house with Japanese takeout. Before he left, they kissed, and both said they considered themselves a couple from that moment on.
Their relationship progressed quickly, and within a month, he was spending most nights at Koontz’s home and had developed a strong rapport with Tate, now 6.
“It was obvious to us that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together,” Koontz said.
By fall 2022, Koontz had moved into a house in High Point, N.C., and in spring 2023, she left Netceed and eventually began working for her sister. In September, Seenanan moved in, and they continue to call it home.
The pair became engaged in September 2025 on an Alaska cruise with Tate. After docking at Icy Strait Point, in Hoonah, Seenanan arranged what Koontz thought was a family photo session. “I suggested we start on the upper deck with pictures of just the two of us,” he said. With the Pacific Ocean behind them, Seenanan got down on one knee and proposed to Koontz with an oval diamond ring.
They married Aug. 22 before 20 guests in the backyard of a home overlooking Puget Sound in Port Orchard, Wash., that they found on Airbnb. Aron Treviño, a close friend of the couple, who was ordained by the American Marriage Ministries for the occasion, officiated.
After dinner, a magician entertained guests with card tricks, illusions and mentalism. The group ended the evening gathered around a fire pit, where they roasted s’mores as the sun set.
The post Through Grief, Their Friendship Deepened Into Love appeared first on New York Times.
