The year was 2009, the place Champaign-Urbana – Garner Hall, to be precise. Kevin’s high school friend, Sara, had been randomly placed as Lauren’s roommate in an all-girls dorm. Sara and Lauren walked over to Garner to borrow a book from Kevin, and Lauren and Kevin met for the first time. One problem: they both had significant others. This wasn’t a problem for long. They eventually realized they should date (Kevin took much longer to come to this conclusion than Lauren), and they spent the rest of their college years at sorority parties (Lauren), the library (Kevin), and the fine drinking establishments of Champaign. At graduation, Kevin had landed a job with Capital One. One problem: it was in Richmond, Virginia. This turned out not to be a problem. They did the long-distance thing, explored the city of Richmond, and in November, 2014 Kevin decided Chicago was calling his name. He moved back one month after Lauren sent in her vet school applications. In February, Lauren got accepted to vet school! One problem: it was back in Champaign-Urbana. “Not a problem!” Kevin said in response to her decision to commit to 4 more years of school – and long distance. He supported her through good and bad days, and frequently took the train down to Champaign for the weekend – partially to visit Lauren, partially to visit his beloved Blind Pig. In May, 2019, Lauren graduated and moved to their new home in Andersonville, Chicago. One problem: Kevin still hadn’t proposed. “Trust the process!” Kevin would often say to Lauren, her family, their friends – whoever would ask him what he was waiting for. Then in June, 2020, Kevin took Lauren and their dogs to Promontory Point, where he asked her to marry him. She said yes. And there were no more problems.