Erick and Hilary met at Wofford College as Freshmen. Hilary thought Erick was really cute and would talk to him every time he traveled to the basement of Greene to do his laundry (where she lived with Laura). Second semester, Hilary and Erick had Philosophy class together and he told her how cool her shoes and outfits were everyday. Hilary and Erick were the only kids at Wofford that didn’t exactly fit the Wofford mold. Hilary wore boho clothes, a nose ring, and curly messy hair and Erick was attempting to grow dreads with a too cool for school vibe. They were perfect for each other.
Erick apparently talked about Hilary but was too shy to talk to her. Hilary would always walk up to him at Pike to send some flirty vibes. One day in March, Erick took a short road trip to Clinton, SC to pick up Jonathan Royer for his 13th bday to spend a weekend at Wofford. That night they snuck 13 year old, brace face Jonathan into the row and introduced him to his first fraternity party. Like a responsible older sister, Hilary left Jonathan asleep in her Greene dorm room to hang out with Erick.
A month later, Hilary asked Erick to be her date to a Derby Day ZTA function . Instead of wearing a cute Triple Crown inspired hat, Hilary wore a Rastafarian sun hat with fake dreads attached. They danced and laughed and snuck off to a beautiful stream running through campus to hang out in the woods. (Where they would later take their dog Zappa to play).
The long strange trip officially began.
Erick and Hilary continued dating throughout Wofford. They started backpacking together and have covered hundreds of miles over the years. They also LOVE attending jam band music festivals. While the Allman Brothers were still touring, they attended their festival in Live Oak, Fl every spring. Their mutual love of music influenced so much of their lives. The years of hiking, music and dancing under the stars is what inspired their wedding location. This is where they fell in love. If you ask Erick what “their song” is he will say I Try by Macy Gray because for their first summer dating, they listened to it every morning getting ready for work while Hilary belted the lyrics. He says he doesn’t care what the lyrics are but Hilary disagrees. She says that “ their song” is China Cat Sunflower by The Grateful Dead. One day on the beach, Hilary searched for the song and after a few drinks and many hours later, they realized they had been listening to dozens of different live versions and renditions of China Cat Sunflower for hours and hours. They laughed until they cried and now every time the song comes on, they think of each other and start dancing and smiling. Who knows what their First Dance will be to though, most likely something cool that wont mean anything to anyone but them.
Erick adopted a yellow lab puppy for Hilary when they were juniors at Wofford. Hilary named her Zappa after Frank Zappa, one of their favorite musicians. She is now a super princess that is treated as their fur child. In Atlanta, Zappa went to work with Hilary everyday and learned to be an amazing therapy dog. Zappa and Hilary hiked 30 miles of the AT alone together and have an unbreakable bond. Zappa is by far Hilary's best friend in the entire world now and no one plays with her more than Erick. She has learned Erick and Hilary's habits enough to figure out how to be fed multiple times a day and guilt trip them into taking her on ice cream trips at night. She is excited to be the new Princess Bassett.
PS: This is the stream where Hilary and Erick had their first official date and later celebrated Valentines Day Dinners. One year, Erick prepared a "gourmet" dinner in his sister's apartment at Wofford and set up a picnic at "their" spot. This is also the first night Hilary learned that she really liked red wine.
After Wofford, Erick dropped Hilary off in Amherst , MA to live for a few months for a post bach program at Hampshire College where Hilary fell in love with farming and goats. Afterwards, Erick and Hilary spent several weeks backpacking down the East Coast starting in Arcadia National Park- Isle de Haut and ending in GA. Some of the days backpacking were not very fun and we ran into many obstacles such as freezing rain and Hilary's jacket ripping and then running out of water and the streams being dammed. They ate a ton of lobster in the beginning and ended up with canned meat and meatless sloppy joes in the woods near the end. Between getting sick and arguing, it was the best time of their lives. They saw the most beautiful breathtaking views and surprisingly learned even more about each other and themselves. Hilary is still obsessed with goats and frequently asks Erick if they can have a baby goat. Arcadia National Park and Isle de Haut will always be very special places for them.
They moved to Charleston and had a blast. After realizing that they couldn't make any money backpacking and going to music festivals for a living, Hilary and Zappa went to Atlanta for Hilary to get her masters at Emory and Erick went to University of Dallas to get his. Erick’s dreads were to his waist by this point , not exactly a great business look and Hilary no longer liked them. They smelled. Thanksgiving 2016, the Royer family gave Erick a few shots and chopped away. An era was gone. The picture is of Hilary holding the first official dread that was cut off. They saved them and Erick wanted to use them as decorations for the wedding. Gross.
Erick went on to move to Austin and worked at the state house until they moved AGAIN! This time to Florida!
After they moved back to Columbia and Hilary was working for Still Hopes and Erick was in law school, Erick asked Hilary to go out to dinner. He said that he wanted to go to the Cayce River Walk for Rhythm on the River before dinner reservations since its one of Hilary's favorite places in Columbia. When they arrived she instantly spotted Jonathan holding a cute little puppy. She went over to him to see the puppy and Jonathan walked away. When she asked Erick what her name was, he said " look at her collar" which said "Will You Marry Me?" and he got down on one knee. Hilary obviously said YES!! Erick had hired a photographer so when she looked up, she saw her Mom, Dad, Jonathan and Haley. They named the puppy Allman after the Allman Brothers.
Allman was Hilary's engagement pup. While living in ATL she watched and walked pits everyday. In ATL and St Pete the apartment complexes they lived in wouldn't allow "aggressive breeds" so Hilary never got to have a pit of her own. As soon as they moved into a house in SC, its all Hilary talked about. She wanted a friend for Zappa and who can resist those cute staffy smiles?! Erick found a cute little angel pit online and had Jonathan pick her up and keep her until the time was right. She and Zappa get along so well and she snuggles with every dog and everyone she meets. They could not have asked for a sweeter pup!
Erick and Hilary live in Columbia, SC. Erick is in law school at USC and Hilary works as the Compliance Administrator at Still Hopes. Their lives revolve around Zappa and Allman and making sure they are living the best life a pup could ever want! They love to attend concerts, spend time outside, attend Gamecock games, throw parties, go to soda city farmers market, and play with the dogs. Erick tries to grill every single night and Hilary meal preps as much as possible. They are going on their honeymoon in December during Erick’s Christmas break. Hopefully they will buy a home in Columbia when Erick graduates from law school. So much excitement to come!