Christina and Alan met six years ago in a decidedly unromantic setting--a university committee meeting--while Alan was still married to his first wife. Alan had just moved to Reno to accept an endowed chair at the University of Nevada's Reynolds School of Journalism. Christina ran Nevada Humanities, the state's humanities council. Their two organizations were bringing a nationally prominent journalist to visit Reno. After the meeting ended, Christina and Alan lingered to chat. They realized that Alan had just moved into a 1928 brick bungalow just down the street from Christina's 1928 brick bungalow. That summer Christina would pass by Alan's house on her morning jogs. Alan would walk his chocolate Labradoodle, Raney, past Christina's house every night and often see sitting her outside, drinking wine and talking with poets, artists, or historians. She would wave and invite him to join them. "When is your wife coming to Reno?" Christina asked one night. "She's not," Alan said. They had separated in the spring, when his wife left for New York. That summer they decided to seek a divorce. Christina, while sympathetic, was secretly hopeful about Alan's sudden availability. She soon invited Alan to her house for dinner without their crowd of friends. On the morning of their first date, Christina was visiting family in Seattle, and she went to the docks to buy salmon and clams just off the fishing boats, to cook for diner that night in Reno. Alan was impressed by her gastronomic passions as well as by the thousands of books that lined the walls of every room in her house, often from floor to ceiling. They soon began a relationship and realized that they both had always wanted children. (Christina's previous marriage had been childless, too.) Given the long odds of conceiving at their advanced ages, they began trying without delay--and, shockingly but happily, they succeeded right away, and Sofia Mae was born on July 1, 2012, making their family complete.

In January, Christina and Alan were having dinner at their home in Reno with Sofie, their four-year-old daughter, and their friend Jessica Brandi Lifland, a photographer from San Francisco. In offhand conversation, Jessica referred to the fact that Christina and Alan weren't married. "Yes you are!" said Sofie. "No, actually, we're not," said her mother, Christina. Sofia seemed befuddled. It didn't make sense to her. "Sofie, do you think mommy and daddy should get married?" asked Alan. "Yes!" "We would need to have a big party," Alan said. "Where would we have the party?" Sofie reflected for a moment. "Jump 'N Shout!" she said, naming a favorite local warehouse facility with kids' bouncy houses and trampolines. "Okay," said Alan. "But I would have to ask Mommy to marry me. Would you help me? What should I say?" Jessica, realizing that an actual proposal was unfolding, raced to get her camera. Sofie climbed on to her father's lap, looked at her mother, and said: "Mommy, will you marry my daddy?" Christina agreed happily to the engagement--but not a reception at Jump 'N Shout. Instead the couple decided hold their wedding at the historic Piper's Opera House in the old Comstock mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, a venue that has hosted great performers such as Mark Twain, Enrico Caruso, Harry Houdini, Lily Langtree, and Al Jolson. Their daughter Sofie is enjoying helping to plan what she always refers to as "our wedding." 150 friends and family will gather in Virginia City to celebrate the “wedding to end all weddings,” at least for Alan and Christina. The ceremony will feature an amalgamation of secular, Jewish, and Lutheran traditions – a blend of the beliefs and perspectives of the bride and groom. Sofie has assembled a crew of fourteen flower girl friends to join her as she walks down the aisle, and the reception will include a Wedding Potluck Supper community meal.