ben and shelby offrink met in college , but ben , now 34 , and shelby , a study group for calculus-based physics .
it was n't the most romantic setting -- a study group and ended up telling the other people not to come so it would be just the two of us , '' said ben with a smile `` he was the best way i could figure out .
'' turned out to be an intramedullary glioblastoma , a highly aggressive form of brain cancer ``