How They Met: A Perfect Match

An Instant Connection

That determination is what brought Aurelia to the dialysis center on that February day. She was scheduled to undergo a treatment called hemodialysis, which meant that instead of having the relative freedom of using a portable device, she would remain hooked up to the center's machine for four hours at a time, three days a week.

As she chatted with the other patients, the dialysis technician, Adrian Alleyne -- tall, striking, with impressive dreadlocks -- strode into the room. "He came straight over to me," Aurelia recalls. "There was an instant connection. We talked, and I mentioned that I was in the process of getting a divorce."

Week after week, Adrian and Aurelia saw each other at the dialysis center, and the attraction kept getting stronger. Eventually, she says, "I made the first move." She wrote Adrian a note asking if he'd meet her at a nearby fountain the following evening.

By this time, it was April and the new treatment was working well enough that Aurelia's leg was no longer swollen. The pair spent the night strolling around the city, exchanging life stories. When they parted just before dawn, Adrian kissed her cheek. "It was such a warm feeling," Aurelia says.