Oliver Lane and Amy Sweet have been together for four years and recently got engaged.Supplied
Who: Amy Sweet, 26, criminal defence lawyer; Oliver Lane, 24, operations co-ordinator.
Location: Guelph, Ont.
Relationship Status: Together four years, recently engaged.
Playing the field
The couple met through mutual friends at the University of Guelph.Supplied
Amy: We both played varsity sports at the University of Guelph and met through mutual friends.
Oliver: I’d dated one of Amy’s friends, so I met Amy, essentially, through the person I was dating.
Amy: I was seeing someone as well. Independently, both our relationships ended but we didn’t act on our feelings. There were some sensitivities and, at the time, you think the university friend group is the be all and end all.
Oliver: But we knew our feelings for each other were not going away. Our close friends were telling us you guys are meant for each other so stop fighting it.
Leap of faith
They saw each other every break they could while being apart.Supplied
Amy: After I graduated from Guelph, I went to Lakehead University up in Thunder Bay for law school. It was a difficult time to be separated because Oliver was just starting to undergo his transition.
Oliver: I was still finishing my undergrad. I fully supported Amy going away to school – it was her lifelong dream to be a lawyer. But it was tough being apart for the emotional moments like the early doctors' appointments and when I got my first [hormone] shot.
Amy: Those big moments were hard to miss, but we saw each other every break we could. I was there when he told his family, and when we told mine.
Oliver: She was also there when I cut my hair, which sounds trite, but for me it was a big deal. I’ve been on hormones three years now and I’m almost at the point of where I want to be. I feel like I’m finally myself.
Under the same roof
The couple bought an old camper van to travel across Canada and the U.S.Supplied
Amy: In my final year of law school we bought an old camper van and fixed it up so we could travel across Canada and the United States when I finished school.
Oliver: Amy finished in April 2019. We packed up our van in May and returned home in September. We moved into our first house in January of this year.
Amy: Three weeks ago, Oliver suggested we take the van and go hiking in Nottawasaga Bluffs near Collingwood. I thought the surprise was meeting up with some friends we hadn’t seen in a while. We got to the end of the hike and Oliver got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Oliver: 2020 has obviously been a difficult and unsettling year, but we’ve been very fortunate. Amy passed the bar, we moved into a new house, and we got a new dog. We have a lot of exciting things ahead.
Amy: We haven’t minded the social distancing. We had so much time together being in a 60-square-foot camper van that the lockdown was kind of exciting for us.
Oliver: We’re happiest when we’re at home together.
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