The Real Story:

(From Lauren's perspective. He's creating the spreadsheets, I'm writing the words. I'm very happy with this arrangement.)

When we started talking in the early Fall of 2023, the first thing I felt was relief. I was a tired nursing student, and the thought of engaging in meaningless, saccharine small talk with strangers online made me ill. But when I met Dillon I felt like I could breathe. He hated small talk too, and his messages made me laugh so hard that a couple times when I read them at traffic stops I missed my green light. I quickly realized that he didn't want to change me or fix me, he only wanted to know me, and to be known.

Discovering each other over the next five months was an adventure. I wouldn't have said that I 'knew he was the one from the beginning.' But it all felt divinely arranged. In thousands of little snapshot moments together, meeting each other's families and friends, seeing each other's strengths and flaws and values and quirks, we came to realize that we were better together than as individuals. We challenged each other, built each other up, shared new perspectives, and gave each other strength for the journey. We built a deep, affectionate friendship more quickly than I would have thought was possible.