After All This Time? Always!

Dan and Dori crossed paths briefly during their time at Rochester, but it wasn't until they both studied abroad in Sydney, Austraila during the Fall of 2014 that they really got to know each other. They interacted a bit during the early parts of the trip, but it was their Spring Break trip to the Great Barrier Reef that was the turning point. During the first day of the trip, their group set sail to explore the Great Barrier Reef. Most of the group got sea sick, but not Dan and Dori. They were built different. Dan sat next to Dori on the sun deck and they started chatting. After a fun filled day in the sun, the group headed back to the hostel and everyone wanted to turn in early, but not Dan and Dori. They were built different. They decided to go out on the town together and danced the night away. As Dan and Dori were walking back to their rooms, they paused before they said goodnight. Is he going to kiss me? Dori thought to herself. But like a scene from a movie one of Dan's roommates walked out and said "Hi Guys!" The moment had passed and they said goodnight. Throughout the rest of the week Dori was nervous and giddy. Would he have kissed me? Is he into me? On the last night of the trip she decided to turn up her flirtation and Dan did as well. They went out to dinner and drinks with the group and then hit the casino. Throughout the night they were flirting, chatting, laughing, and enjoying each others company, so much so that they decided to get "married!" They ended up on the top of a playground slide together with their friend as their "officiant." She said a few words and they went down the slide together which solidified their "union." Dori felt that the moment to shoot her shot had arrived, so she looked at Dan and said "well we are married, we should probably kiss!" They kissed and that kiss was the catalyst to what would become a 9 year (and counting) love story. In the past 9 years, Dori and Dan have been through a lot together. They survived multiple moves, job changes, years of international and domestic long distance, moving in together during a global pandemic, Dan's cancer diagnosis, and more. As the years have gone on, their love and admiration for each other has only grown stronger. They have grown individually as people and together as partners. Their relationship is rooted in friendship, support, adventure, comedic banter, and respect for one another. They truly believe that there is nothing that they can't handle if they are together because as they love to say, they are built different.

Dan and Dori were planning a trip back to Australia in September 2020. They were so excited because they were going to celebrate the wedding of one of Dan's best friends, but they also couldn't wait to go back to the place where their relationship began! Dan was also excited because he felt that this trip would be the perfect opportunity to propose! He asked Dori's parents for her hand in marriage in July and began coordinating an elaborate plan! Now as we all know, 2020 wasn't the best year. Everyone thought it would only take a few weeks to "flatten the curve," but unfortunately that did not happen. Due to travel restrictions, they had to cancel their trip and Dan had to postpone his original plan. Fastforward to November 2021, Dori planned a weekend in Coachella Valley for her birthday and called it Dorchella. 15 of her friends were coming in from all over to celebrate, which got her thinking. Dori knew Dan was looking for the perfect moment to propose and she thought, "what if Dorchella is that moment?" In typical Dori fashion, she told Dan of her idea and he responded "that is a good idea, but I have something else in the works." This threw her off the scent. On 11.13.21, the last night of Dorchella, Dori's best friend Savannah got everyone together and made them express what they loved about Dori. Dori was so overcome with emotion being surrounded by so much love and was in a pure state of bliss. During this time, Dan realized that this was the moment he had been waiting for and seized the opportunity. He closed out the circle by saying what he loved about Dori, then proposed to her in front of all of her friends. She cried tears of happiness and, of course, said YES!!!!