We met in the most romantic of places: a gray cubicle on the third floor of the charmingly brutish California Energy Commission office. It was the summer of 2018 and Erik had just started his internship working in the office next to Terra's.

At first, we got to know each other through meetings, lunches, and happy hours with colleagues. The coffee machine housed in Terra's cubicle was a convenient excuse for Erik to come over and make small talk while waiting for a cup to brew. (He later admitted that he was, as a result, over-caffeinated for most of the summer.)

After a couple weeks, our professional relationship turned into a friendship and Terra invited Erik to outside-of-work gatherings with Terra's Sacramento "crew." And somewhere between drinks in the warm summer evenings, sunbathing by the American River, and long talks about clean energy policy, it turned into something more.

At the end of summer, after only a couple weeks of dating, we had to make the big decision about whether a bicoastal long-distance relationship made sense. After much consideration, we decided: a connection like this does not happen all the time and we're not ready to let it go. And so, we didn't.

Long distance was not as hard as either of us expected. Erik was busy finishing grad school and Terra was busy establishing her budding career. We missed each other, but had trust and communication. Over the winter holiday we met each other's families and childhood friends and our relationship started to feel more real.

In early 2019, our relationship hit another turning point. Terra's mom, Nellie, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away within 5 weeks. Our relationship was still new, and Terra wasn't sure she was ready to open that much to someone so quickly. But she took a chance and asked Erik to come be with her family and to help her get through the hardest period of her life. And without hesitation, Erik did just that.

Once he finished grad school, Erik moved back to Sacramento and started full time at the Energy Commission. After a year of living apart, we bought a house in a lovely neighborhood and Erik became an official dad to Terra's labradoodle, Kepler.

The five years we have been together have not always been easy, but they have been filled with love, understanding, support, and laughter.

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