Despite both attending Davidson College, we didn't meet until after we had both graduated and fate brought us back to North Carolina. Keely had returned to America following a year teaching in Austria to pursue her Master's in Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dylan was working at Duke gaining research experience in order to apply to medical school. One day, whilst bored during the global pandemic, we found each other on Hinge and matched. We planned a coffee date for January, 18, 2021 at the recently opened Summit Coffee (a Davidson favorite) in Chapel Hill and hit it off. We found ourselves lost in conversation until the coffee shop began to close, at which point we braved the cold January wind and went on a long walk around campus. Though we both thought we were regrettably too awkward to earn a second date, we were each surprised by the other when they said they had a great time and were looking forward to meeting again. The rest, as they say, was history.

With Jaskier in tow, we set off to Asheville for a fun weekend of eating amazing food and hiking up to Looking Glass Rock to enjoy a picnic. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't as sly as I thought (apparently I was too paranoid about the weather, which miraculously cleared to a sunny day on our drive to the mountain) and Keely suspected there might be ulterior motives to this trip. Halfway through the muddy hike, we reached the summit and sat down to take in the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. After eating lunch, and before we left, I not-so-deftly reached into my backpack for some "fruit" and pulled out the ring box. After many tears from both of us, I managed to work my way through a semi-coherent proposal, to which Keely thankfully said "absolutely, yes!" - Dylan