01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Love Endured the Lockdown — and a Canceled Wedding Venue
Keren Ashley Dillard's serious intentions — and sense of humor — came across loud and clear as soon as Tevin Taylor spotted her photo after they matched on Tinder.
'She had a spray can that said 'No Clowns',' said Mr. Taylor, who was amused. In June 2020, while working remotely as a software developer and living with his parents in Yonkers, N.Y., where he grew up, he decided to message her.
'He looked really sweet,' said Ms. Dillard, charmed by a photo of him standing in the snow in front of the American Museum of Natural History in New York in a 'slightly oversized' winter jacket.
Ms. Dillard, 27, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from Barnard, like him, also grew up in Yonkers and lived with her parents 15 minutes away from him.
Mr. Taylor, 29, graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the State University of New York at Oswego, and now works remotely as a first-level software engineer at American Express.
As they were messaging, she mentioned that when she wasn't busy applying to master's programs in architecture, she was either bingeing something on Netflix or closely following the Black Lives Matter protests.
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