Metromance: A (Vanpool) front seat to romance

Today, we have a special Valentine treat: the story of how two of our riders, D’Lani and Nelson, met on a King County Metro Vanpool and fell in love. 

D’Lani Jean was on a mission to simplify her life. She wanted to be able to walk everywhere in her neighborhood, shorten a “dreadful” commute to Redmond, and generally work on a healthier, less stressful lifestyle.

So she sold her house in Tukwila, sold her car and moved to a studio apartment in downtown Seattle.

D’Lani loved the ease the change brought her.

“I wanted to walk and use public transportation,” she said. “I learned about the Metro (Vanpool) program. Some colleagues were on it, and one went right by my building. So I joined it and immediately this was lifechanging.

“I didn’t have to drive, deal with traffic across the bridge and could just sit and read my email” while commuting.

She was so caught up in her newfound peace on the Vanpool she failed at first to really notice another passenger who definitely noticed her — a man named Nelson. But he played the long game, giving their friendship time to organically develop.

D’Lani notices that cute guy

Finally, after a few weeks, Nelson reached her radar.

“I overheard a conversation he was having with another rider, that he had tried a new restaurant,” D’Lani said. “He had so much information about that place. It turned out he knew all the hotspots in Seattle.”

At the time, D’Lani was hosting a regular Friday happy hour for women in business in Seattle, and she was always looking for new places to bring the group.

Nelson had ideas for her!

“I thought, ‘He’s fun, he knows what’s going on,’” D’Lani recalled. “After I tried a couple of his places, I decided to invite him to one of our happy hours. He said, ‘I thought this was just for women.’

“I didn’t want to blow my cover. I just simply said, ‘It’s expanding so you are welcome to join us.’”

Nelson showed up with a couple of guy friends. That happy hour gave the pair their first opportunity to talk outside of their Vanpool. Nelson found out D’Lani was a singer-songwriter in her spare time, and he started going to her gigs.

It turned out both were originally from Colorado, and shared many similar experiences growing up there.

Cue the romance

“He remembered the exact outfit I was wearing the first day I walked into that Vanpool” back in 2010, she said. “I still have the blue scarf I was wearing that day.”

Eventually, their romance led to a proposal, the couple, naturally, held an engagement photo shoot with a Vanpool vehicle. They married in 2013 — everyone in their Vanpool attended, of course – and today are the parents of 10-year-old twin daughters.

“It just started with me wanting to simplify my life,” D’Lani said, “and Vanpool brought us together.”

(Interested in joining a Vanpool? Learn more on Metro’s web page.)