It was Fall of 2020, Lauren was finishing up her last semester of graduate school. She was at Molloy working on her final project on a Sunday night when she saw a notification from Hinge. It read, “James has invited you to chat” and the rest is history…

After their original plans were canceled because James was exposed to COVID-19 (thankfully he did not get it), they had to wait two weeks to finally meet in person after FaceTiming almost every night since they first started messaging. Lauren and James both love Christmas, so it was Lauren's idea to go to the Jones Beach Light Show... what a terrible idea it was! They waited in line for 3 hours, but looking back, they both can agree that some conversations they had that night played a very important role in molding their relationship into what it is today.

It is an annual tradition for Lauren and James to take anniversary photos. This year, it was James's turn to plan. He selected Old Westbury Gardens for the location. James did this because Old Westbury Gardens is one of Lauren's favorite places (besides Disney World). They were about to take photos at the "Ghost Walk" when James was digging through his backpack. Lauren was silently wondering what he was doing, but was distracted by talking to their photographer. Lauren had no idea that James was trying to find the ring. Once he found the ring, James got Lauren's attention and got down on one knee.