Courtesy of Marcy Chong

Her first-year crush in the dorm across the street 

In the first month of her first year at Yale, Eliza Howard ’92 realized that the cute guy she kept noticing around campus lived in the dorm directly across from hers. Eliza was in Lanman-Wright Hall on Old Campus and Ben Thorne ’91 was in a Saybrook room right across High Street. 

Eliza would sometimes look out the window to “check-in and see” what he was doing.

“It became this joke in our suite,” Eliza said laughing. “My roommates would always sit in the window, in my [high school] lacrosse jacket, so that if he happened to look, it would look like I was staring at him.”

But soon, Eliza started dating someone else. She and Ben ended up with mutual friends, but they never became close during college.

After Ben graduated, Eliza wouldn’t have thought she’d ever see him again.

Flash forward two years, Eliza was working in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She got a call from Ben out of the blue, asking if she wanted to meet, as he would be driving through on the way to start architecture school in Houston. The two started writing letters to each other from where they lived in different cities. In the fall of 1993, they met in Boston for the wedding of another Yale couple and decided to start a relationship.

This October, Ben and Eliza will celebrate 23 years of marriage.

“Those funny early crushes, you never know they might come back and find you,” Eliza said.

Brought together by music at the BCAY

Julian Davis Reid ’13 was the musical director of the Black Church at Yale or BCAY when he was an undergrad. When he was introduced to Carmen Reid ’13, a new singer at the church, he felt a connection and wanted to get to know her. 

“I told her that for new singers, I have to get together with them to teach them the songs,” he remembered. “That wasn’t exactly true for all. It was my coy ploy at a date.”

Then, Julian asked Carmen to get Bruegger’s Bagels for an official date. The two have been together for 15 years and have a daughter.

Julian said that he still sees everything he loves about Carmen when he looks into her eyes.

“There’s warmth and exuberance, invitation and assurance,” he said. “We have lived in three different states, and seen a lot. Through it all, I still see so much in her eyes: her faith, her hope, her love.”

Love, and friendship, in the first co-ed class at Yale

Lupi Robinson ’71 met her husband of over 50 years in her junior year. Lupi was part of the first cohort of female Yalies and one of only about 40 women in Davenport College. 

John Robinson ’70 SOM ’80 was in Davenport too. They soon became acquainted.

“It was the Fall of ’69 and John was part of a group of guys who were really into bridge,” she said. “That’s how I met him.”

She was interested in him initially but then learned that he was dating someone else, making him “no-go territory” to her.

The two still kept in touch throughout the rest of their time in school and then after graduation, when both stayed in New Haven to work.

“For a couple of years, it was just: we knew each other, we were attracted to each other, but we didn’t act on it,” she said.

A few years later, Lupi decided to go to graduate school at the University of Michigan. When John learned about this the day before she was due to leave, he finally decided to ask her out, but could only offer a ride to the airport as it was all the time they had left.

Lupi said no. She already had a ride to the airport.

Over Thanksgiving break though, she was back in New Haven. Michigan was “kind of a dry season for men after Yale,” and she decided to look up John. But she mistakenly went to the wrong address for his work and couldn’t find him. A few months later, however, when she was back in Connecticut for Christmas, John called her up. 

Then their relationship moved quickly. They started dating, got engaged that March and married that August.

But for Lupi, her marriage is not her only Yale love story. She’s remained close to the women she met during college and she still considers them some of her closest friends.

“In addition to finding my husband, I found friends for life,” she said.

Tuesday night Mory’s with the Society of Orpheus and Bacchus

Line Lillevik ’92 GRD ’02 and James Waterston ’92 both remember what the other was wearing when they first met at Durfee’s Sweet Shoppe. Line was in a “suede beige coat,” according to James; James was in “neat cut-off Levis and a purple bandana,” per Line.

Their next meeting was at a Mory’s event hosted by the Society of Orpheus and Bacchus. James, who was in the Society of Orpheus and Bacchus a cappella group, invited Line through a mutual friend.

James remembers the moment he found the courage to talk to Line.

“The critical moment for me was the moment where I realized, if I don’t turn around and start conversing, nothing’s going to happen,” James said. “So I just chose to talk; I didn’t know what I was talking about at all, but that’s how it started.”

Line retold the story a little bit differently. At the time, the SOBs were an all-male singing group and at this weekly Mory’s event, they would sit at a central long table, singing and drinking from the famous Mory’s cups. Their guests, who were often women, would sit around them along the wall.

Line, who is Norwegian, was shocked by the dynamic of the event.

“I came from a country where a woman was the prime minister, and more than 50 percent of the parliament was filled with women,” she said. “And I thought, ‘What is this? How can this be?’”

But, despite the outdated traditions of the SOBs, the two formed a connection. This year, they’ll celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

When asked for their relationship wisdom, James immediately said, “listen.” After some silence, Line said, “talk.” They both started laughing.

Lizzie Fulton ’09 and Aaron Reiss ’10 first began their relationship on a trip to New Orleans with friends. A mutual had invited them both to see the Mardi Gras celebrations. 

Somehow they ended up sharing a bed.

“I think there was somebody I was supposed to share a couch with, and Lizzie was going to share an inflatable mattress,” Aaron said. “Then that girl got sick, and so then Lizzie and I shared the inflatable mattress, and…”

“We made out,” Lizzie added.

The two started dating but broke up when Lizzie graduated the year before Aaron. Lizzie then studied abroad with the Yale in China program.

After he graduated, Aaron found himself doing this same program.

“So, we got back together on the other side of the world,” Lizzie said.

This week, Lizzie and Aaron are taking their child to see Mardi Gras celebrations.

Casino night at Morse and Stiles

Andrew Cheung ’92 first asked Meaghan Cheung ’93 on a date when she was collecting money for a charity by asking people to donate their meal swipes. They were both in Grace Hopper College, then called Calhoun.

“I was sitting outside the dining hall getting people to sign up, and I asked Andrew if he would donate, and he said, ‘Only if you come out to dinner with me,’” Meaghan recalled.

They both fondly remembered their first official date as the Casino Night hosted by Morse and Stiles. Meaghan was planning to stay in that night, but Andrew convinced her to go.

Meeting in college meant they got to know each other really quickly and well.

“If you meet somebody kind of in the real world later, you can go on a few dates and are still not sure what the person is like,” Meaghan said. “But in college, you see people with their friends, you see them in class. You see them at their best and their worst.”

First impressions on the cross country ski team 

When Marcy Chong ’96 first saw Alden Hall ’92, he had his underwear on his head. 

They were both on Yale’s cross country ski team, traveling on a preseason trip to upstate New York. Alden was in a hot tub in the basement of the house where the team was staying.

“I hadn’t thought to pack a bathing suit, so I just took my boxers off and put them on my head. You know, as one does,” Alden said.

Marcy was walking downstairs, reading a book. She didn’t realize that the scene in the hot tub had changed.

“So that was my first impression of Alden,” she said. “But really, not a very accurate impression.”

They started dating for the rest of the year, traveling together as the cross country ski team went to competitions across the northeast. Alden, who was a senior, graduated that spring, with their relationship on unclear terms. They’d never had an outright conversation about what their relationship would be after Alden’s graduation, but ended up having a long-distance relationship for about a year.

But then, they broke up and stopped hearing from each other for a few years, living separate lives and seeing other people.

When they later found themselves living in Washington at the same time, they got back together. Now, Marcy and Alden have been married for 24 years. 

“When I see Alden I still see him exactly the way I did 30 years ago and feel the way I did then,” Marcy said. “I admire him just as much and still feel like there is nobody else I would rather spend my time with. That wasn’t great for my class attendance freshman spring but it helps a lot with keeping our marriage strong.”