The Waskos

Lots of sisters can say that they’re best friends. But how many best friends can also say that they’re sisters (in-law)?

Kirstin ’11 and Marta Wasko ’11 didn’t have the same last name when they met on the seventh floor of Tower C the very first day of their freshman years at TU. They’ve been besties basically ever since. In 2012, Kirstin’s parents invited Marta on a family cruise. In what could have been an episode of “The Love Boat,” Kirstin fell for Matt Wasko, and Marta met his identical twin brother Mark.

Their romantic journeys took very different paths, but both ended up at the altar. Today, the Kirstin and Matt version of the Waskos live with their two children in Scottsdale, Arizona, while the Marta and Mark edition live about 10 minutes away with kids of their own—fraternal twin boys.

Kirstin (Cappiello) and Matt Wasko

Class of 2011 | Business Administration

Marta and I were both in triples in the Towers. I think we were both the odd man out in our triples. And we just hit it off. When we came back in January, both of Marta's roommates were like, "Oh, we decided to move out." So now she had no roommates, and I was still in a triple. So it was kind of just, "Okay, I'm going to move in with you.”

Sophomore year, we lived on the 14th floor of Tower C. Junior year, we moved to Rodgers Forge Apartments. We both had one extra semester in the fall after our senior year, so we lived in Cockeysville.

When we graduated Towson, my parents had set up a vacation. They met my (now) husband's parents years earlier on a cruise and thought, "Hey, let's all get together, have some fun and have our families and friends meet each other." Marta came on that cruise with me and my sister, and that's where we all met everyone.

Matt was shy and goofy, and I kind of liked that. He wasn't up in my face. We dated for seven months before getting engaged. Marta and Mark stayed friends for several years.

Matt proposed at Liberatore’s restaurant. It was really simple, out on the patio after dinner, by a fire. It was perfect.

We got married in Bel Air, Maryland, and then we went on a cruise for our honeymoon. It was supposed to go to Bermuda, but there was a hurricane, and we wound up going to the Bahamas and Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was still great.

I stayed in Baltimore County until 2017, when we moved to Arizona for a change of pace. There was, I think, 30 inches of snow in Baltimore that winter, and my husband and I were kind of tired of it. Marta moved to Arizona in 2020.

Especially since we’ve had kids, it's the best. When we get together, she's an extension of me as a mom. And we help each other. I just called her yesterday on day three of potty training the 2 year old. I needed a pep talk. My 5 year old went to her house for two nights to hang out while we were doing the potty training. It's been fantastic.

Marta (Hodan) and Mark Wasko

Class of 2011 | Geology, Geography

We met the first day at a floor meeting. My roommates were a bit more party animals, and hers were very different people also, so we just kind of gravitated to each other. We had a core kind of group of girlfriends, several of who lived on the seventh floor with us that freshman year. We all stayed pretty good friends and then made more friends branching out from there. I had an awesome experience at Towson.

Her parents were very gracious and offered to take me along on that cruise as a graduation present. True to my third-wheel form I was excited. I was like, “Hey, free cruise.”

When we all met, I was in a relationship, as was my now-husband. He and I kind of hit it off. Kirstin and Matt were reserved and quiet. We both laughed about it because we became really fast friends.

Within a couple of months of that cruise, my long-term relationship ended, and his relationship ended as well. And let's just say Mark pursued. He tried. And I rejected. I denied a lot. Mark was persistent. Every six months or so, he would be like, "Hey, you want someone to come visit you?”

In summer of 2015 I called Kirstin and was like, "I think I might like Mark." And Kirstin told me to stop playing with him. Despite that, I did call him and say, "Hey, would you have any interest in going to Europe with me for six weeks for a backpacking trip?" And he's like, "Yes." No hesitation.

He proposed in our backyard in Texas. I'm not easy to surprise. It's funny because as I was leaving work that Friday, I told my coworker, "I think I'm going to get engaged this weekend. Something's up." And I walked home into candles and flowers. We got married in June of 2018 outside Breckenridge, Colorado. Matt was Mark’s best man. Kirstin was my maid of honor.

We’ve all been living in Scottsdale since 2020. Because Matt and Mark are twins, they want to be down the street from each other all the time. They would deny it, but they’re very dependent on each other.

At this point, my husband and I are like, "I can't imagine moving anywhere else unless they moved with us."

Introductory photo for this story from left to right: Matt, Kirstin, Marta and Mark