We met all the way back in the fall of 2009 as incoming fifth-graders at The Hockaday School in Dallas, TX. Maria had been at Hockaday since first grade, and Mel had just ‘graduated’ from Lamplighter down the street. The universe threw us together right away – our lockers, arranged alphabetically by last name, remained just one locker apart for the next eight years. Over many study halls, recesses, and early-morning drop-offs, we bonded over all things bookish (Harry Potter and The Warrior Cats were two early favorites), and a best-friendship was born.
Over the next four years of middle school, we saw each other at our best and our worst (nothing like pre-teen/teenage awkwardness to cement a relationship!) and traveled together to Washington, DC, and Taos, New Mexico; attended countless assemblies and dances, shamelessly texting each other the whole time; and cheered each other on at volleyball and soccer games. In high school, we continued to spend all our time together. From 7 AM in the Upper School Library, to English class with Dr. B (Jen Boulanger), to lunch, to free period back in the library, and all evening back at our respective homes, we never ran out of things to talk, call, text, and IM about. We managed to find deeper meaning in everything – even the admittedly garbage TV show Teen Wolf – and continued to be each other’s ‘person’. Whenever anything great happened – or, alternatively, whenever anything horrible happened – Mel was the first person Maria wanted to talk to, and vice versa.
In the spring semester of sophomore year, we finally decided to take the jump from being best friends to something more. Our friends were probably VERY relieved and couldn’t believe it had taken us that long to figure it out!! Over the next few years, we went through all of the normal high-school romance milestones – Friday night football games (which we did not watch very closely), prom, and many, many free period ‘dates’ at Fat Straws down the street from school. We even worked on our college applications together – and somehow, despite applying to a combined twenty-six universities, we had no overlap whatsoever.
After graduating in 2017 (the most recent time Maria wore a long white dress), we braved the terrifying world of long-distance relationships. Luckily, we had some practice – our first anniversary was spent apart, as Maria was in DC that semester – so care packages and Edible Arrangements weren’t anything new. After eight years of seeing each other six hours a day, five days a week, and talking over the phone for the rest of the time, being apart for college was rough. But there was never a universe in which we broke up for the sake of that distance – being together, no matter how, was better than being apart.
In 2020, Mel came home from college at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU – Pittsburgh) for what we thought was simply an extended spring break to ‘wait out’ COVID. Instead, she stayed for the next several months, working a virtual internship and settling back into Dallas. Meanwhile, Maria continued at Southern Methodist University (SMU – Dallas) and eventually moved in with Mel, who stayed in Dallas to work remotely after graduating over Zoom in 2021. Maria graduated in 2022, and a few months before graduation had been accepted to the History PhD program at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, so we made plans to move up there the following fall!
The summer of 2022 brought new travel and experiences for the both of us. After SMU graduation in May, we headed out on a whirlwind trip to London and Paris. In each city, we planned ‘surprise days’ for each other (in Paris, for example, Maria scheduled a baguette-baking class with Mel, who is already an excellent baker; Mel’s surprise Paris day involved museums and bookstores for Maria, two activities we both love). Mel’s ‘surprise day’ for Maria in London culminated in high tea at the Hotel Café Royal’s Oscar Wilde Lounge, aptly named for one of its most famous patrons, who often brought his lover there for tea, too. Despite our waiter almost giving away the surprise, Mel managed to pull off an epic proposal, and Maria responded with an ecstatic YES!!! The rest of the trip was spent celebrating this new step, and we loved every minute of it.
Later in the summer, Mel was able to join Maria’s summer job at Oxford for a few weeks, where we enjoyed formal-dress dinners, incredible architecture and historical tours, and the chance to get even closer to our incredible officiant, Jen Boulanger, who was in town to work on her novel. Mel and Maria spent both weekends in Scotland (one in Glasgow, one in Edinburgh), and together we fell in love with Scotland – we’ll be spending a few more weeks there in December for our honeymoon!
Since returning to the US after that whirlwind summer, Maria has started her PhD program and Mel has continued working remotely. We both absolutely love it up here in Evanston – our relationship has continued to grow stronger and brighter here, and we’ve both learned so much (about the world, each other, and yes, even sometimes about history) during our time here. We are so pleased to welcome you all to the Charles Gates Dawes House – a venue full of history from its past residents, and one that we’ll contribute to this September. Our story has been fifteen years in the making, and this chapter is one we can’t wait to celebrate!