Our story

As told by Duncan

In the summer of 2023, before Ashley went to business school, Ashley and Duncan rented a small studio apartment on the Upper East Side. That was the summer that the Barbie movie came out, and Duncan and Ashley decided to throw a Barbie movie party.

Most people doing a party like that, in a small rental apartment, would make excuses to themselves about why they couldn’t decorate properly for the party. But Ashley refused, and she insisted that they go all out, going so far as wrapping the furniture in pink wrapping paper. In this, Duncan saw one of the things that he loves most about Ashley. Even when there was every reason to do something in a half ass way, she refused to do so. An Ashley Overbeek Barbie party could never happen without furniture wrapped in pink wrapping paper, and it didn’t.  

Duncan and Ashley met on Hinge in the Bay Area - their first date was at an art museum. Duncan had a sneaking suspicion that Ashley would be ‘the one’ right away, and he would frequently go to the park next to his house for long talks on the phone with Ashley. Duncan is tenacious, and when he saw something he wanted, he refused to let it go.

So, they found ways to see each other. Ashley’s job meant that she could invite her significant other to visit her wherever she was stationed. And so Duncan traveled to see her - in Jamaica, in Wisconsin - and their bond grew stronger, until they moved in together in New York.

Now, Duncan and Ashley have moved from New York to Boston as Ashley attends Harvard Business School. If you drive down Memorial Drive in Cambridge most mornings, you’ll see Duncan walking with Ashley on her way to school - their little ritual that they do to get some time to hang out each morning. It is just one of the little ways that they show each other how much they care for each other.