Our Story

In Chris' words:

Traci and I met on September 6th, 1999 at the San Jose Airport. I was heading back to Portland after visiting my Mom and Erwin over Labor Day weekend. Traci was heading back to Portland from visiting a friend in LA. Fortunately for me, she was laid over in San Jose and her mom came out to visit with her. (Keep in mind that this was pre 9/11/2001.) While I was sitting waiting for my flight minding my own business, Traci and her mom sat down two seats away from me, near the windows. While sitting in my seat feeling good about how I just saved myself another $25 off the price of my (then) new Nokia 6950 Sprint PCS cell phone, the airline made an announcement about such and such a flight was going to be delayed by 15 minutes. I didn't catch the flight number, so I asked the two ladies to my right (Traci and her mom) if they had said, "Southwest FLT# 1793?"

Traci's mom replied, "Yes. Are you going to Portland too?"

And so our conversation began. They asked what I was doing in Portland; at the time I was doing my first internship at Intel. Traci learned that her dad was not a Mechanical Engineer, but rather an Electrical Engineer like me. Yadda, yadda, yadda... time to board the plane.

Fortunately for us, we were flying Southwest. This is where festival seating is a good thing. Though I could've boarded with the cattle in the first boarding group, I figured I'd continue talking with Traci and we'd board together. We were one of the last people on the flight and found two seats across the aisle in row 1 facing backwards. We talked back and forth across the aisle for the duration of the flight. And I know I kicked the lady in front of me several times as I adjusted myself in my seat to turn slightly more than 90 degrees to the left.

Upon arriving in Portland, Traci asked how she could get a hold of me... (had she not done that, we wouldn't be where we are today!). I gave her my email address. A few days later she emailed me... and now the rest is history!

In Traci's words:

I had just had some life changing events happen in my life. I changed my career path and schooling in my undergrad program as well was fresh off of a break-up from a serious relationship. I was down visiting a long-time friend of mine in S. California to blow some steam before I headed full force into my senior year of college in Portland, OR. I had no interest in dating, etc. I had a lay-over in San Jose, my hometown. Mom came out to visit me at the airport for the short stint. We had McDonalds and we caught up on each other’s lives for over an hour. It was getting close for boarding time on Southwest, so we began to wrap up our conversation. Then the announcement was made that the flight was delayed. I didn’t mind because at least I had company. Very shortly after the announcement this young man who had been sitting a couple of seats down from us asked us what the announcement said. I stated, “The plane is delayed.” I immediately blurted out after that, “So, are you from Portland?” Chris divulged his story of having a 6-month internship at Intel as an electrical engineer intern. I, not knowing what type of engineer my dad was, stated to Chris, “My dad is mechanical engineer at Lockheed-Martin.” Mom quickly corrected me stating, “No, he’s also an electrical engineer.” Oops! Little did I know about the snobbery that comes with the different types of engineers. Chris, being proud of his upcoming career as a “Double E”, conveyed that electrical engineering sits on a high horse compared to other engineering fields. Ah, they all serve their purpose, was my opinion. So, we three proceeded to chat about, yes, engineering (yee ha), as well as amusement parks, and other trivial stuff.

Finally, when it was time to board the plane, Chris relinquished his group “A” boarding status and waited for me in the “C” group. Chris held a place in line while I made a quick stop to the bathroom, a ritual I always make before any flight to avoid having to take the “walk of shame” down the aisle to the airplane lavatory. Chris and I sat on opposite aisles, with him positioned just slightly in front of me. This required that he turn his neck a little more than 90 degrees to the left to look at me while we talked the entire hour and 45-minute flight from San Jose to Portland. His poor neck! Surprisingly, as I remember it, he did most of the talking because I kept asking him questions. Most of the conversation focused around what he was doing at work and learning at the University of Washington in the Electrical Engineering program. I was so grateful for the distraction during the flight because the Dr. Pepper I drank from McDonalds began setting up camp in my bladder shortly after take off. For those who don’t know me too well, I HATE using airplane lavatories! So I listened intently to Chris instead of the pain brewing in my abdomen. Once the plane landed, Chris and I continued to talk until we arrived near the baggage claim. Before saying our “goodbyes”, I spontaneously asked him for some contact info. Again, I was not interested in dating, but he seemed like he would be a nice friend to have. I was new to Portland, and didn’t have a lot of friends at the time. And so he did. I emailed him a couple of days later…and here we are!