We met through an absolutely wild and unforgettable chain of events. Hilary had just finished training to be a flight attendant with American Airlines and decided to spend a few days exploring the UK for the first time. She stayed with a friend from college, explored Oxford, and unfortunately had her wallet stolen; all within 72 hours! Credit cards, passport, license and all cash having been taken, her friend from Oxford suggested she make her way back to London and spend time with a group of friends she was meeting up with that evening to take Hilary’s mind off the awful turn of events. During these same 72 hours, Jamie had been planning on meeting with that same college friend of Hilary’s in London, where he had recently moved after graduating from university. He had just taken a job with Bloomberg and had been planning to meet with a group of friends to catch up.

We first saw each other in the National Portrait Gallery.

As the day progressed, the group wandered around London for a few hours and eventually ended up at the British institution that is a Wetherspoons pub. By this point, everyone in the group was somewhat aware of Jamie’s interest in Hilary. They finalized their suspicions that Jamie wanted to see Hilary again while she had stepped away from the table and when she returned asking if anyone was free the next day to explore London, were conveniently “busy.”

The next day, we met at Waterloo station and Jamie proceeded to give his best impression of a tour guide, for someone who had only lived there for 6 months. They spent time wandering through Hyde Park, sipping hot chocolate and lounging in the sun, all the while chatting and laughing and making sure the other didn’t need to leave with the occasional “three hour check in.” Their love of musicals and cocktails turned the day into an evening filled with more adventure and before they knew it, they had spent nearly a full 24 hours together.

Miraculously, Hilary returned to Chicago where she was based and Jamie returned to his life in London. They spoke every day and as often as the time difference would allow and soon began to make plans to see each other again, more and more often. They couldn’t quite shake what that day together had meant to one another and now, even all these years later, neither of them would have had it any other way.