Who would have thought that you would meet the love of your life on Facebook? But that's how this all started. Facebook had just launched the Facebook Dating section of their platform a couple weeks before. Lazarus was living in Oakland and Meredith was living in San Jose...

Lazarus - I was not in the best place at the time, I had been single for about 2 years after a bad relationship that had gone on for too long and left me feeling very low. My work life was ok, but I wasn't where I wanted to be with my education and I had a ton of bad habits that I desperately needed to break. I was practically living at my local bar and was desperate for something major to change in my life. When I came across Merry's dating profile I could tell she wasn't like most of the girls I had met online. Instead of the normal two or three line back and forth substance free banter I was used to getting when I reached out to people, I would get paragraphs of detailed and engaging responses back, much like I would write myself. When I met her for the first time, I immediately knew the moment I saw her that the rest of my life was about to change forever. 5 years later I have the best partner I could have ever asked for. I have never had a more devoted, caring, supportive or kind partner in my life. She has made me a better man and I cant wait to spend the rest of my life with her. I am happier, healthier and have a fuller life now with her in it than I could have ever imagined. with her help, I gotten rid of those bad habits, pursued my educational goals and finally found someone who makes me feel whole and connected. The last 5 years have been filled with adventures, growth, and abundance and I am looking forward to a lifetime of incredible memories and adventures together with my Best Friend.

Meredith - Imagine joining a dating-page page, and amidst a slurry of unintelligent, benal, and clichéd compliments, a gentleman offers an absolutely unique, creative, and adorable refrence of you to The Dark Crystal. Curiously, you begin chatting with this man to find mutual excitement and intrigue in all of the geeky, foodie, scientific, deep and silly things you were commonly considered "weird" for loving to learn about. When Lazarus came into my life I wasn't well, either. Led astray by a misdiagnosis, overmedicated, floundering at best, Laz stepped-up to become the Best Friend I always needed -- and truly didnt believe I would ever find. With his love and support as a foundation, I was able to conquer the personal battles that held me back from my true self. In the five years that we have been together, we have been roadtrip buddies, pandemic survivors, homesteaders, we have championed each other's scholastic endeavors, gone on insane adventures, taken fantastic pictures, and made amazing memories, friends, and of course food lol. This man is the first person I run to when troubled, as well as the first person I run to to share my good news, my thoughts, my dreams, my everything. I can't believe how lucky I am to have shared these last five years with Laz. And words cannot express my gratitude or excitement for every year to come. Because regardless of anything else, they will be spent with my Best Friend.

...and the rest is yet to be written. We hope to see all of you there in Hawaii to celebrate the friendship and love we have found in each other surrounded by all the wonderful people we cherish most, our wonderful friends and family.

Laz and Merry