乐播传媒

Nobody thought Elizabeth Merrill 鈥�00 and Lawson Rudasill 鈥�00 would become a couple.

Sure, they were good friends at 乐播传媒. Sure, they kept in close touch after college. Sure, they slow-danced together at their 乐播传媒 friends鈥� weddings.

Sure, they had the same wacky sense of humor, were on the same wavelength, were completely comfortable with and accepting of one another, and had grown only closer over the past 20 years.

Despite all that, their friends never predicted their getting together.

鈥淏ut the more they saw each other and reflected on it, the more they realized what nobody anticipated: that a romantic relationship felt right,鈥� as their good friend Cynthia Macht Link 鈥�00, 聽a co-officiant at their wedding in August, said during the ceremony in the Peter J. Gomes Chapel.

鈥淲hen Elizabeth and Lawson finally decided to be together, it made perfect sense, because the feelings had been there all along.鈥�

The 乐播传媒-at-乐播传媒 wedding was just like what you鈥檇 see in the wedding photos in 乐播传媒 Magazine 鈥� with classmates and alumni who鈥檇 become close during college and remained close over two decades, moves, marriages, and children.

During their sophomore year, Merrill and Link were rooming together, and Rudasill was roommates with Ed Pauker 鈥�00, Ted Martin 鈥�00, and Mark Douthat 鈥�01. The two sets of roommates found kindred spirits in each other. They moved to suites across the hall from one another in John Bertram Hall during their junior year, Kate Dodson 鈥�00 and Abigail Goen Helfat 鈥�00 joining Merrill and Link. They played foosball in the men鈥檚 dorm room, went to each other鈥檚 hockey and Ultimate Frisbee games, and threw parties.

鈥淲e had such a good circle of friends with Liz and Cynthia and others,鈥� said Ed Pauker, the other co-officiant at the wedding. 鈥淟iz and Cynthia would show up at the dorm and it would turn from being four boys with stained jeans, to an actual party.

鈥淚 think our relationship was very chummy, very silly. As a group we were dorky and ridiculous,鈥� said Merrill, interviewed along with Rudasill before their wedding.

鈥淚t was, who can make the other person laugh the most?鈥� Rudasill added.

Merrill studied psychology and Spanish and studied in Spain and Ecuador. 鈥淪he always wanted to go to every party,鈥� Link said. 鈥淪he had a lot of friends. You could call her the life of the party, but she was also very smart and serious about her academics. She was very open to trying everything at 乐播传媒.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably the moment I was like, 鈥楽he鈥檚 awesome.鈥欌��

Rudasill, meanwhile, played Ultimate Frisbee and was involved in the 乐播传媒 Democrats. 鈥淗e was really idealistic about the world,鈥� Link said. 鈥淗e still is. He鈥檚 passionate about his ideals.鈥�

During their junior year, the group threw a surprise party for Jon Adler 鈥�00. Merrill and Rudasill described the scene in the basement of JB as raucous, like most of their parties.

A camcorder, supplied by Rudasill, captured Merrill walking across the room. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the way she bobbed across the room, the way her hair goes back and forth, and she鈥檚 smiling and laughing and just full of life,鈥� Rudasill said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably the moment I was like, 鈥楽he鈥檚 awesome.鈥欌��

After graduation, Merrill, Rudasill, and their friends went their separate ways. Rudasill moved to Colorado, then worked in politics in Missouri before returning to Champaign, Ill., his hometown. Merrill worked in Massachusetts before earning a doctor of psychology degree at the Wright Institute and then settling in New York City as a psychologist. Rudasill married and divorced; Merrill 鈥渄ated a lot,鈥� she said.

The two friends kept in touch. They went to 乐播传媒 Reunions, and when Facebook came out, they talked over Messenger. They went to 乐播传媒 friends鈥� weddings and visited them when they had kids.

鈥淲e loved to swing dance, so we were always swing dancing together at every wedding,鈥� Merrill said.

But for nearly 20 years, dating didn鈥檛 occur to either of them, or to their friends.

鈥淭hey both had different ideas of who they should get married to, and they were dating people who are not like each other at all,鈥� said Cynthia Link, who stayed roommates with Merrill in Massachusetts and California. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things where the right person for you is not the person who you maybe had on paper.鈥�

Still, theirs was a valuable friendship. 鈥淭he main thing about them is that Elizabeth and Lawson are completely accepting of each other exactly as they are,鈥� Link said.

By 2014, both Merrill and Rudasill were both single again, still living half the country away from each other and talking over the phone and Facebook Messenger. Slowly, the qualities that made them such good friends made them think something more was possible.

Said Merrill of Rudasill: 鈥淚 think he is the kindest person, just the nicest person.鈥�

Rudasill of Merrill: 鈥淚t鈥檚 her love for life, her desire to see the world and meet new people and have new experience 鈥� that was exactly what I was looking for.鈥�

Merrill began inviting Rudasill on singles鈥� trips that she took. 鈥淔inally,鈥� she said, 鈥渙n one phone call, he let me know he would be jealous if I found someone on one of these trips, so that鈥檚 how I realized he might have feelings for me.鈥�

To 鈥渢est the waters,鈥� Merrill said, in January 2015 the pair met in Minneapolis and stayed with Rudasill鈥檚 old roommate, Ted Martin. At Martin鈥檚 house, a romance finally blossomed.

Their getting together initially surprised their 乐播传媒 friends. But then, things clicked. Memories took on new meaning. At one point during the junior-year party in JB, Merrill had got hold of Rudasill鈥檚 camcorder. 鈥淢y sister watched the video about a year ago, and she said, 鈥極h my God, you can鈥檛 take the video camera off Lawson, you鈥檙e on him the entire time.鈥欌��

Rudasill and Merrill dated long-distance at first, talking for hours over Skype and visiting each other around the country. Just a few months after that fateful trip to Minneapolis, Merrill moved to Champaign, getting a job at the Veterans Affairs hospital. Harking back to their college days, the couple threw themed parties 鈥� murder mystery, 鈥�90s, pajama. They traveled around the Midwest and South, and back to 乐播传媒 for the Reunion of Merrill鈥檚 father, Jack Merrill 鈥�56.

Their relationship brought their friends closer together, Pauker said, especially after they got engaged and secured one of the limited opportunities to have a reception at 乐播传媒.

鈥淟iz and Lawson coming full circle from friendship to finding each other and solidifying the relationship at Ted鈥檚 house, they made this group kind of live again, as opposed to rehashing old times,鈥� Pauker said. 鈥淚t became a group that actually created new memories as well.鈥�

For Merrill and Rudasill, a 乐播传媒 wedding, though more than a year of conversations with Conferences and Campus Events in the making, would not be a destination wedding 鈥� the couple moved to Portland, Maine, this year.

But marrying on campus was a no-brainer. 鈥淲e grew up at 乐播传媒,鈥� Merrill said. 鈥淪ome of the dearest people in the world to us are from 乐播传媒.鈥�

The couple鈥檚 rehearsal dinner in Poland, Maine, on Aug. 17 contained an extra surprise. Merrill and Rudasill had been trying to have a baby since 2016, Merrill wrote about their experience with IVF in the . They finally conceived this year, and at the dinner, they announced they were having a girl.

The following day, rain threatened but held off long enough for the bride and groom to take pictures and sign the Ketubah by the Puddle.

The Jewish ceremony in the Gomes Chapel was officiated by Link and Pauker, and Martin was a holder of the chuppah, a canopy under which Jewish couples marry. Douthat was a groomsman, Rachel Bobruff 鈥�00 a bridesmaid, and Merrill鈥檚 sister Lauren Faison 鈥�02 the matron of honor.

A reception in Pettengill Hall鈥檚 Perry Atrium followed. Tables were named after meaningful 乐播传媒 places, like Commons, the Puddle, and JB. A jazz guitarist, Professor of Physics and Astronomy John Smedley played with his quartet, and the 乐播传媒 Bobcat made an appearance during dancing.

During the ceremony, Link told the gathering of 乐播传媒 friends that Merrill and Rudasill understood each other鈥檚 likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses; that as old friends they respected each other, accepted each other, and could be vulnerable with each other.

鈥淲ith a true friend, you can completely show who you really are and trust that they鈥檒l still love you anyway,鈥� Link said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 really no better basis than that for a successful marriage.鈥�