If you ask Renaud: When I first met Whitney, I never imagined I’d be marrying this girl. Don’t get me wrong, I loved working with Whitney from the get-go. I immediately felt more at ease when I was in a patient room with her, but work was the full extent of our relationship. Anyone who has worked with me can attest to this. When I’m at work, I put my head down and work. No socializing. Towards the end of my residency, I got a Facebook message from Whitney asking where I would be working in Washington since she was going out that way, too. The message was purely professional, but my heart jumped when she messaged me. I asked her about her recent solo trip to Alaska. I certainly didn’t expect her to continue the conversation. I mean, this amazing, personable, kind, beautiful girl. Why would she be interested in the quiet, awkward guy who’s leaving? Well, to my pleasant surprise, she answered. Just like at work, I felt so at ease with her. The conversation was natural. I couldn’t wait until she responded so I could message her back. One day, she ended her response by asking me to get a coffee with her. Smiling from ear to ear, I slept so soundly that night…only to wake up to a message from Whitney freaking out and apologizing for misreading the situation. In retrospect, it's probably not the best move to read a message like that and then not respond for 8 hours. By the grace of God, I hadn’t ruined what has turned out to be the best thing in my life. I picked Whitney up on my motorcycle nervous as all get out to be going on a date with this girl. What was supposed to be a coffee date turned into a lunch date, and what was supposed to be a lunch date would have turned into a dinner date if the restaurant hadn’t started closing down without us realizing it. That first 10 hour date was the beginning of forever for me. If you ask Whitney: Meeting Renaud was serendipitous, really. In 2022, a series of unfortunate events led me to a contract back home. I’d only been back in NC for a year, but I was already planning to work my way out to the northwest full-time RVing in my new camper. Unbeknownst to either of us, Renaud signed a contract for his attending gig in Washington the same week I applied for my Washington nursing license. I left for a travel contract to begin my cross-country tour that October, but a family calamity pushed me back home by the end of the year. In January 2023, I was back at Southeastern, where Renaud was finishing his residency. Our relationship was solely professional, but I always enjoyed working with him. I trusted him and respected his decisions, particularly during critical cases. At some point, it came up in conversation that we’d both been planning to head to Washington. I told him I’d keep him in mind when I started looking for a contract out that way, but I really didn’t think much about it after that. I became increasingly restless at home around May, so I started browsing contracts. I hit up Renaud to see which facility he’d be working for in Washington. He unexpectedly kept the conversation going, and we talked about everything from our faith, families, travels, music, our work, the future, and our past. The more he revealed, the more I realized he was the most incredible human I’d ever met. After days of messaging, I finally asked Renaud to grab coffee with me. Obviously, he had my attention at this point. Well… this man left the message on read OVERNIGHT, not knowing that I could tell he’d read it without responding. I was terrified that I’d misinterpreted the vibes and had been grossly mistaken about the whole situation. Gladly, I wasn’t mistaken at all. A “casual coffee” turned into sitting on the patio of Cape Fear Winery, talking for ten hours straight. By our third date, the rest is history. I’ve never met another human that I admire more than I do Renaud. He truly is my best buddy, and I am so excited to spend forever with him!