How We Met

ELLE’S PERSPECTIVE

July 9, 2021 was like any other Friday night in Sacramento. I had just moved back home after college and called my best friend Katy to meet up. Excited that the world had opened back up after the pandemic and to go out to our hometown bars for the first time, we ended up at the infamous “Republic”, a bar known for run-ins with people we went to High School with.

After a few drinks and dances to early 2000s tunes, I saw a cute guy across the bar. So cute that, in a very uncharacteristic move, I winked at him. He came over and said hello, and from that first conversation we learned that we had lived parallel lives that had somehow never intersected until that moment.

We went to brother/sister Catholic High Schools in Sacramento, went to college 15 minutes a part in Orange County, and two of our close friends were even dating. We shared so much in common and were both rooting for Italy to win the Euro Cup final the next day (they did).

To make sure he remembered to text me, I put my name in his phone as “Elle Berti The Republic 7/9”. He did that night, and many dates and adventures later, the rest is history.

MITCHELL’S PERSPECTIVE

On 7/9/2021, I met my future wife for the first time, on a night out with the boys in Midtown Sacramento.

I approached what I thought was the prettiest girl at the bar thinking “she looked familiar”. Although we had never met, we were surprised how close we’d always been to each other. We both grew up in Sacramento, went to Catholic schools K-12th grade, and went to undergrad in Orange County (UC Irvine and Chapman). While odd finally meeting at the ages of 23 and 21, we couldn’t have met at a more perfect time in each other’s lives.

We not only connected on our proximity to each other, but also on our interests and passions. I was already eagerly planning future dates that aligned with my interests and hers.

While this conversation lasted for a while, I never wanted it to end. I went home that night knowing I met someone very special and I couldn’t wait to see her again.