Early ‘91: Chris was born in Charlotte, NC. Almost 2 years later, Helen came along in Sacramento, CA. While he immersed himself in comic books, stories of superheroes and knights in shining armor, bottle cap collecting, sports, and baseball cards, she enjoyed a world full of Barbies and Polly Pockets, cartwheels, playing in the dirt, painting rocks and collecting pig figurines.

January 2015: Their lives intertwined when Helen was working the front desk at a local Midtown yoga studio; Chris joined just after moving to Sacramento. Eventually Helen became a yoga teacher at the studio and Chris was a regular practitioner in her class. They saw a lot of each other but didn’t speak much outside of a quick “hello, how are ya?” There were signs from the start but life had other plans for these two. Helen and Chris both dated other people, Helen moved away to Portland, while Chris continued his life in Sacramento. Eventually, Helen returned home and to her job at the yoga studio, to find Chris still in his usual front row spot. Helen finally ventured out of her middle row spot, and they began practicing mat-to-mat while secretly looking forward to the next time they might run into each other. Unnoticed were Helen’s valiant efforts of purposely parking her car near Chris’ usual spot on 26th & K in hopes that they might walk in and out together. Eventually, friendship started to turn to mutual attraction, and they began to spend more time together.

July 2019: Some time had passed since the last time they had hung out and Helen was starting to wonder if Chris had fallen off the face of the earth. She thought for sure he wasn’t interested, but surprisingly on the 4th of July she received a text saying, “sup, hows your fourth?” The texting continued, and Chris saw this as the perfect time to ask Helen out on an official date. A couple days later they met at Mas Taco Bar on R street and the two of them enjoyed some tacos, nachos, and a margarita. Helen got there early to have a drink and scope it out, only to find out later that Chris had ALSO arrived early and was doing circles in the parking lot on his Lime scooter. After dinner, it was over to the Historic Crest Theater on K street to see the cult classic 16 Candles. True to his favorite method of transportation, Chris made Helen ride there on a Lime scooter. After this date, Chris knew things were headed in the right direction. He was also slightly concerned about Helen’s sodium levels after experiencing her technique of salting movie popcorn. Helen began to leave her mark on Chris’ life in many ways. She showed him the wonders of a complete salad with multiple ingredients served in a bowl, not the plastic container, with dressing, not dry, and eaten with a fork, not bare hands. Helen’s greatest gift to Chris during this stage of courtship was the sharing of her gardening knowledge. Together, over the summer and into the fall they turned Chris’s V Street backyard, a dilapidated nasty plot of land, into an oasis teaming with life.

November 2019: After a few months of late nights in Midtown, loud live music events, and an epic beach trip to Pismo, Helen was wondering why on earth Chris hadn’t officially proclaimed her his girlfriend. Chris had to make sure his ducks were in a row before he made what he knew to be a vitally important choice. It was at this time that Chris transitioned out of the job he had been with since moving to Sacramento 6 years earlier and into one that was more aligned with his goals and aspirations. Once he was settled into his new job he planned a trip over Veteran’s Day Weekend to the Northern CA coast town of Mendocino. After some BBQ oysters and few Guinesses from Patterson’s Irish Pub, Chris got the courage to ask Helen to officially be his girlfriend. They enjoyed the rest of their weekend exploring the town and adventuring to neighboring Glass Beach so Helen could search for seaglass and Chris could read his new book. They came home as a couple and never looked back.

August 2020: Chris and his long-time roommates went their separate ways so Chris and Helen decided to pool their resources and move into an old Victorian apartment in Midtown pressed up against the train tracks. It took about a week of hiding and hissing before Chris’s two cats and Helen’s two cats accepted the change. They couldn’t wait to transform another ugly plot of land, and enjoyed 3 years of vegetable growing, garden hang-outs, and back porch sunsets.

October 2023: After three years in their Midtown apartment, it was time to say goodbye to shared walls with neighbors and sneaky landlords. With the cats in tow, they moved across the grid and into North Oak Park to a small two-bedroom house with a big back yard for gardening and a big she-shed for projects.

November 2023: After a long year of change and upheaval, Chris told Helen he was planning a relaxing anniversary weekend in Mendocino, where he made it official four years earlier. After checking into their old hotel and enjoying the town for a day, Helen was unsure about her “Chris is proposing this weekend” theory. She knew him too well, and something seemed fishy, but he kept throwing her off. They made their way up to Glass Beach after a round of oysters in Noyo Harbor. They found a great section of beach with the motherlode of sea glass and perfectly situated for the sunset. As Helen scoured for the perfect piece, Chris unsurprisingly chatted with a couple of strangers. Helen noticed the dwindling opportunity of the setting sun, Chris making his new friends, and she knew it wasn’t going to happen today. As she looked on from the distance, Chris explained his plan to these random folk and recruited them to keep any passersby out of the frame of his camera that was “recording the sunset on timelapse.” After some deep breaths Chris got into position and called Helen over to him, shouting that he had found the perfect piece of sea glass that she NEEDED to see. When Helen approached, Chris got down on one knee and asked. She said yes, obviously, after some hyperventilating and shock. They blissfully celebrated at Patterson’s, with a proper pour, warm food, and the friendliest strangers.