Finding Each Other in the Place They Had Always Been

Denise Parnell and Whitney Hardy, both from the Memphis area, first crossed paths in the city in 2009. Five years later, they reconnected. A year after that, they were ready to go on a date.

When Denise Parnell and Whitney Hardy first encountered each other in 2009, it was on a blind date — one that Ms. Parnell was on with a man to whom she had been introduced by friends.

To ease the pressure on Ms. Parnell, her friends had arranged for the setup to be part of a larger gathering of 10 people at a Mexican restaurant in Memphis, Tenn. The extended group included Ms. Hardy. But she and Ms. Parnell, both from the Memphis area and then in their early twenties, did not pay much attention to each other.

Ms. Parnell was focused on her blind date (which turned out to be “a complete disaster,” she said). Ms. Hardy was focused on her girlfriend at the time, who was with her that night. Afterward, five years went by without the two giving each other another thought.