I'M IN LOVE by jasmine schoch

Love on a Whim

For my first I'M IN LOVE blog I decided to share the love story of two wonderful friends of mine that have been married for many, many years now....Clara Minor and Dio Santiago worked side by side at Hewlett Packard in Mountain View, CA and never gave each other a second glance until one fateful day in October of 1972. A late night dinner was followed by three hours of conversation over a cold glass of beer in a restaurant with peanut shell covered floors, as Clara and Dio slowly began to realize that there might be more to their new found friendship than they thought.

Empty glasses of beer were left behind on the bar as the couple headed out for a relaxing drive up Skyline Blvd, a road that runs from Saratoga to San Francisco. The pleasant drive ended on a high peak in Palo Alto, where Clara and Dio found themselves gazing over the whole bay area, which brightly lit up the dark night sky. After enjoying the spectacular and romantic evening view for a couple of long hours, time finally came back into play, as Clara cleverly suggested that Dio spend the night at her house, reasoning that her place was closer than his :-) Dio gladly agreed, which ultimately marked the beginning of his 'extended stay' at Clara's house and their lives together.

Six months later, the happy couple was ready to begin their life together. Whereas an engagement may seem like the next step to take, Clara and Dio decided to test their love for each other in a rather unconventional way and made a commitment to leave their California lives behind and hitch hike their way to Alaska together! This daring journey strengthened their growing relationship and allowed Clara and Dio to realize that they were fully committed to each other and their common dreams and aspirations.

Although their life in Alaska was adventure filled and allowed them to start their family with the birth of their daughter Jessica, it wasn't until after the young family relocated to California and welcomed their son Rio that Clara Minor and Dio Santiago officially tied the knot in December 1985. The wedding was held in their California based martial arts school. that literally came as a surprised to all of their guests, who thought they were attending an appreciation celebration :-) I suppose good things can come in bigger packages after all...