Love Under the Rock Arch

Hazel Moffatt '22 & Lillian Moffatt '22

On August 29, 2018, nervous customs kids around Bryn Mawr gathered in their respective common rooms to break the ice and start their journeys as Mawrtyrs. It was Hazel’s first day in the country, and Lillian’s first few hours as an independent adult. As soon as we both walked into the Rhoads basement Quiet Study Room, we instantly felt a spark.  Throughout our shared customs week as Rhoads North freshman, we tagged along to the same activities and found comfort hanging out in each other’s rooms—but we quickly got caught up in class work and navigating the awkwardness of fitting into groups. 

It didn’t take long for Lillian to reach out to Hazel for lunch in late September, and for Hazel to return the gesture with a (totally platonic, lol) offer to sit on the roof of our dorm and gaze at the stars together. We talked late into the night—those existential, angsty, yet endlessly hopeful conversations that only two infatuated eighteen-year-old queers can have. Even after all those hours, we both came back to the roof to “star gaze” night after night. When there came the next night and we still wanted to be together—we knew it was not about the stars, it was about each other. Right after midnight on October 4th, we made our relationship official on the Rhoads roof. 

We endured the regular craziness that is college, until the first COVID-19 shutdown forced most students to move out of the dorms. We stayed on campus together and moved to Lillian’s parents’ home in Indianapolis for the summer of 2020. All of this, as you can imagine, brought us incredibly close. During winter break of our junior year, Hazel proposed to Lillian, to which she said yes (of course).  We married in Lillian’s parents’ backyard June 22nd, 2021, and held a small garden party-esque reception with a few of our relatives. In May of 2022, Lillian graduated with a BA in Theater, Hazel in Psychology. Hazel completed their Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr’s GSSWSR the following year.

We’ve been happily living in West Philadelphia with our dog, cat, and gecko since June 2022. We thank Bryn Mawr for bringing us together; it was all obviously meant to be. Young adulthood is full of challenges, but our marriage has allowed us to tackle them together with joy and gratitude.

Maybe kissing under the Rock Arch on our first month anniversary was magical all along. 

Pronouns: Hazel: they/them; Lillian: any pronouns

AMOs, Clubs, or Sports: Hazel: Bounce (Bi-Co)

Class Color: Dark Blue 💙