May of 2016, was the summer after Lauren's first year at URI. She started her summer job at Shorehaven Golf Club as a hostess. As the newbie , she noticed she was getting a lot of attention from her co-workers in the kitchen. One in particular, the sous-chef, Hilton.

According to Hilton, on Lauren's first day of work, he remembers her first walking past him in the kitchen; wearing black jeans, white button down shirt, and her long brown hair down. He immediately turned to his friend, Robert, and said, "That's her. That is who I am going to end up with." Robert looked at him and said, "Ha, yeah right."

Hilton began making small-talk with her as she passed through the kitchen everyday. He quickly made some bold moves by introducing her to other people as "his future girlfriend." Intrigued but cautious, Lauren started to ask some of the other waitstaff about him and was pleased to find out that everyone loved him.

On June 19th, a few weeks after meeting, Hilton told Lauren he would stay late and wait for her after work. Even though Lauren wouldn't be done with work until a couple hours after Hilton, he waited in the parking lot. Lauren got out even later than expected, so she sent a text to Hilton saying, "Are you still here??" Sure enough, when she walked into the parking lot, he was there waiting to take her on their first date. They drove a few minutes down the street towards the beach and sat on a bench. Lauren and Hilton talked for hours.

They spent the summer working long hours together. Hilton let Lauren take cookies and other food from the kitchen. People started to get jealous that Lauren was being favored until the rest of the staff realized that Hilton cooked better staff meals on days when Lauren was working. Win-win for everyone!

In August, Lauren returned to school. Hilton came to visit her a few weeks later and every month after that while she was in Rhode Island. Shorehaven continued to be Lauren's summer job throughout college. Not because Lauren was a talented waitress, but because it was the easiest way for her to spend her summer with Hilton.

In the Fall of 2018, Lauren studied abroad in Florence, Italy and it was the longest amount of time that Hilton & Lauren had spent apart. In October of that semester, Hilton flew to Italy and they spent 3 weeks traveling together.

From that point forward it was clear that it didn't matter the 6 hour time difference or thousands of miles between them; Hilton and Lauren could make it through anything.

Fast forward to April, 27th 2024, Hilton told Lauren they were going out to run errands. While they were out, he reminded Lauren of the spot that they had their first date and suggested they go and see if the bench they first sat at was still there (As Hilton knew it was). In front of that bench, Hilton got on one knee and asked Lauren to spend the rest of her life with him.

We are grateful for our love story and the journey that brought us together. We can't wait for this next chapter of our lives. Thank you to all the friends and family that want to celebrate with us!

L&H