We first met on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at a restaurant Baiyu worked at called Champps. It’s easy to remember this date because one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time, Fast and the Furious 4, opened in theatres at midnight that evening. Trevor had recently moved to the Chicago area for a job and went out to meet a friend who also worked at Champps, and to enjoy the excellent $2 any-pints special that Champps had to offer. Unbeknownst to him at the time, he was getting more than a great deal on beer that evening. Baiyu had just finished her shift when Trevor arrived, and as fate would have it, was sitting at the same table as the friend he was coming to meet. 

We hit it off pretty quickly, chatting about all manner of things. As more people got off work, the group expanded, having to move from table to table as our party grew, and yet we found ourselves sitting closer and closer together, even as the tables got larger and larger. As the night wore on, a number of people decided they wanted to see the midnight showing of Fast 4. Trevor, who had a 5AM wake-up the next day, decided to be responsible for the first time ever and pass on this once-in-a-lifetime event, much to the chagrin of Baiyu. Undeterred, Baiyu cajoled Trevor, heavily implying that he was lame, not understanding there were jobs in the world that didn’t have a 3PM start time. She finally relented and we exchanged phone numbers. When Trevor gave his, Baiyu realized that she had forgotten his name, so she pulled the old club trick and asked him how he spelled it. Trevor, being no stranger to the game, immediately called her out on not remembering his name - and to her great credit, she admitted to the accusation with a wry grin. After enduring a little chirping back, Baiyu eventually secured the number, and we went our separate ways that evening - her to one of the best movies ever made, Trevor to bed and a day of responsibility ahead.

Our first official date was a week later at a bar called Mickey Finn’s. Trevor’s Nuvi (the pinnacle of GPS technology at the time) broke down, and he barely made it to the bar. Thankfully he did, and we had a great time that evening, finding it easy and familiar to talk to each other about all manner of topics. We continued to see each other after that night and became “Facebook Official” shortly after (the only way to tell if you were “seriously” in a relationship for Millennials back in the late Aughts).

In the following 16 years, we’ve been through lots of big things together, from Baiyu getting a Masters and “us” surviving student teaching, to multiple career changes for both of us, to living in a small 1 bedroom apartment during COVID, and to finally finding the perfect house in 2022 and making it our home. We’ve both learned and grown so much together, with Baiyu introducing Trevor to things like sushi, wine, and this thing called, “communication,” and Trevor introducing Baiyu to hockey and this concept known as, “patience.” We’ve enjoyed movies, concerts, European travel vacations, and a ton of laughs with family and friends. And finally, during a cloudy day in late 2025 on a bridge hundreds of feet in the air overlooking Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, Trevor asked Baiyu to marry him. Now we’re having a wedding and you’re invited!