It was Friday, October 30th, 2009. In Eugene, Oregon. Shayan was 22, dressed as a "sexy" skunk for a night at the downtown bars with her two college besties, Megan & Amy. They pregamed at home while they finished their makeup. Their palm-sized digital cameras captured proof of their youth & celebration, ready to upload to their Facebook profiles the next day. They walked from Shayan’s place to Starlight Lounge & met up with more friends. The bar was packed with 20-somethings & hormones. Strategy was of the essence. They divided and conquered. Shayan fell back & found some (prime) seats at a high-top table in between the bathrooms & the bar. The others mazed their way through the shoulder-to-shoulder collegiate wall to procure two drinks each —another strategy implemented to minimize sobriety & maximize fun. Cut to Darryl, a week away from 23 & excited to be hanging with a new group of friends from Springfield, one town over. He’s planning to move to Hawaii in December. He’s dressed as Rambo & went straight to the bathroom after arriving a little after Shayan at Starlight. After exiting, he was immediately faced with the same wall of humans. As he slowly inched away from the bathrooms & towards the bar, he found himself at the exact longitude & latitude as Shayan. Rambo standing shoulder to shoulder with a skunk. He clocks her eyes & a stripe of striking white paint going up the bridge of her nose & into her hair. The next thing Shayan sees is Darryls face taking up the whole frame. His hand stretched out for a shake “Hi, my name is Darryl…” She craned her neck back so her eyes could focus on…his face (😍🫠) “Hi!” “What are you?” “I’m Persian” (her autopilot answer) “What are you dressed up as?” “Oh, I’m a skunk” “Nono, you’re Flower (from Bambi)” “🫠” “Hey can i get your number?” “Yes” The exchange was swift as His friends were already migrating to the next bar. Cut to 2am Oct 31st. Closing time inverses the ratios of people inside to outside. The intersection of Olive & West Broadway is a costume parade. Shayan & Darryl meet at the corner by Jameson’s bar. Megan is sleeping over at Shayan’s tonight so she’s stuck (patiently) waiting. After 15 minutes, Darryl is wearing Shayan’s face paint…Megan peels Shayan away & they walk home. Shayan giddy, & Megan (reasonably) a little annoyed. To Shayan’s surprise Darryl texted her the next day while she was at the Saturday market with Megan. He asked her out on their first date to Sweetlife Bakery…Darryl didn’t go to Hawaii that December & two dated for 10 wonderful months. After graduation, Shayan received an English teaching position in Madrid. She knew it was time, & that Darryl needed to realize his dream of going to Hawaii too. The breakup was rough, but full of love, respect, & lots of Facebook stalking. The next 13 years were full of life’s ups & downs. Cut to 2023. Shayan’s living in Mexico City & her friend Sophie is planning her 40th birthday in Portland. Darryl is back in Eugene. Shayan accepts the invite & messages everyone she still knows in Oregon to hang out since she’ll be passing through after so long. Friends, professors, & her favorite ex, Darryl. He doesn’t post much on social media so she has no idea if he’s still the babe he used to be, but she remembers him fondly & thought it would be a “lovely blast from the past”. On August 2, 2023 Darryl drives up to Portland to see Shayan. Turns out…he IS still a babe, AND after a hike that turned into to lunch that turned into to a trip to the river…they still had so much in common. Separating felt unreasonable, illogical, & wrong…From there, trips were made, borders were crossed, time-zones were straddled, discussions were had, & the rest is history… We are thrilled to spend the rest of our lives together. We are eternally thankful for your presence in our lives, for pouring into us, & for being here to celebrate today & hopefully many more celebrations to come!