Our StoryOur Story

Question

Delaney's VersionDelaney's Version

Answer

Louden and I lived in the same dorm freshman year at Duke. While I say we were good friends, he remembers us as “acquaintances” since “people who lived on the second and third floors never hung out with each other.” I can’t recall our exact “meet cute” (and have to assume it was less-than-cute given I came from a two-week no-shower camping trip), but I do remember always thinking he was someone I wanted to know better despite the distance between us (one stairwell). By senior year, after four years of being excited to see Louden at dinners and parties through mutual friends, I decided to make the first move (again, he remembers this differently) by telling his friend that I thought Louden was cute. After a very long couple weeks of waiting for a response (asking my friend and I to the front row of a concert does not count), we finally hit it off in Myrtle Beach. We started dating shortly after, went to Paris on our second date where I quickly fell in love with him, and got engaged after the best five years filled with “middle point” dinners while long distance (often a Cracker Barrel on a highway 3.5 hours away), trips close to home and all over the world, and countless happy memories with the person I almost missed out on back in 2019.

Question

Louden's VersionLouden's Version

Answer

I first met Delaney at the best freshman dorm on Duke’s campus - Gilbert Addoms. We lived on different floors, and she was taking much harder classes than me (pre-med…) - so we were friendly but didn’t see much of each other that first year. Over the next few years, we were part of overlapping friend groups but never spent much one-on-one time together. If we had, I would’ve made a move way sooner! During Spring Break of our senior year, my friend encouraged me to get up the nerve to see if Delaney might be interested in something more. My “foolproof” plan: ask her to go to the front row of a concert. She said yes… but then asked if her friend could also join, which I interpreted as a polite “no” (she disagrees). A few weeks later, we were at Myrtle Beach, and Delaney came to a party my friends and I were hosting. That night, we ended up talking to each other the whole night. Graduation was only a few days later, so I spent as much time as possible convincing her we should date. Our first date was at Gocciolina in Durham (still our favorite restaurant). We decided to go all in - not only dating but also jumping right into long distance and taking a trip to Paris three weeks into dating. Five years later, I’m so thankful we found each other right before graduation. Without a doubt, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.

Question

t.l.d.r.t.l.d.r.

Answer

It took us four years to start dating, five years to get engaged, and hopefully will not take us six years to plan the wedding