Caitlin and I met on the original dating app: Craigslist. Not on the Backpages, but that would’ve been cool. In the summer of 2016, I was in desperate need of roommates in Bozeman, Montana. A few weeks before the start of the fall term, I came across a Craigslist listing for a sizable room in a sizable house close to the Montana State University campus. I applied, got it, and found myself as the lone guy in a house full of former sorority sisters. Life plodded along as I took classes, read books, and lifted weights, until one day in December.



That day, I was doing some homework in the Craigslist house. The door creaked open, and in walked this person who was not a roommate of mine. Her name was Caitlin, and she was visiting her sorority friends in Bozeman during her winter break from a grad program in Colorado. Each night and every night for three nights straight, conversation flowed naturally until the early hours of the morning. With each passing minute, embers of a deep connection grew. During Caitlin’s time in Bozeman, when not together, I could not stop thinking about her.



All good things come to an end, and the same held true when Caitlin left Bozeman. She wove herself into my mind and did not leave. In the following days, I felt an absence so weighty I could not shake and a sense of loneliness I had never felt before. However, I knew of one remedy that would fix my pain: seeing Caitlin again.



A few weeks later, in January of 2017, Caitlin and I met up for our first unofficial date in Denver. Like our time in Bozeman, our day in Denver together was magical –so magical that I confessed to “really liking” (yes, those exact words) Caitlin that evening. Since that date in Denver over seven years ago, my feelings of “really liking” Caitlin continued blooming to where we are today.



Since Caitlin and I have been together, we experienced a lot of life alongside each other. To name a few milestones: we weathered starting our relationship as a long-distance couple, found our first home together in Bozeman, faced another bout of long distance as I started my first adult job, moved to Denver, discovered we were not cool nor hip enough to live downtown, and got Nova–our dog who is the sun around which we orbit.



Now, I am writing this “Our Story” entry sitting on our couch listening to a jazz record with Caitlin and Nova. We find ourselves residing in south Denver, in a cozy apartment brimming with books and dog hair, with an engagement ring adorning Caitlin’s finger. Caitlin is teaching elementary school and I am working as a school social worker.



I hope you, my dear reader, have a better understanding of our origin story. Though the past seven years of love and connection is owed to our dedication to each other, we would not be together without the original dating app: Craigslist.
 


-Eli