It's Pandemic Summer 2020 in downtown Fresno, a new beautiful curly haired latina walks into my office because she is taking over my office-mate's caseload. I suck at spanish, I ask her to interpret with one of my spanish-speaking clients. She leans really close, I felt shock not just static but oh crap don't lean closer for an HR complaint. I told Shawn something along the lines of 'I want to ask her out,' and Shawn reasonably responds with a serious stare (presumably from someone who has seen this route go south one too many times) 'Don't do it...' Against most sound advice, yes attorneys are terrible in practicing what they preach, go against said sound advice, I asked Thania out when no one wanted to take her out on her birthday. We ate a bulgogi burrito at Gazebo gardens, walked along Van Ness boulevard, stared at houses we couldn't afford, and laid out in the grass at Fresno Community College talking until the sun went down. A couple of dates later and a serious lack of modern insulation at my apartment in Tower, Thania invited me to her apartment and I never left... Thanks for the pupusas, AC, and love... -JB

June 2020 - I just got my first permanent position as a Deputy Public Defender all the way in Fresno, about 2.5 hours away from my family. I never thought I'd leave the Bay Area but the options were slim pickings in the height of COVID-19, so I packed up all my clothes (A LOT) and signed the lease for my first solo apartment! On my very first day at Fresno Public Defender's Office, my supervisor took me around each floor and introduced me to the entire office. On the second floor (Misdemeanor row), I met all my new coworkers, including this very cute Filipino attorney who also went to Santa Clara Law (what a coincidence!) My first two weeks at the office, I spent almost every day in Justin's office since I was taking over his office-mate's cases. One afternoon, Justin got a call from a client who spoke Spanish and I listened as he terribly tried to introduce himself as "sus abogados Justin Bendana." Lucky for him, I jumped right in and began translating. It wasn't too long after that I was sending snapchats to all my friends about my new office crush. As the weeks went by, I found myself walking by Justin's office (it was close to the bathroom) and peering in to see if he was there. The butterflies went wild in my stomach when I caught a glimpse of him. The week of my birthday came around and I got an email from CREAM (Cookies Rule Everything Around Me) saying that I get a free ice cream sandwich for turning 28 on the 28th. I asked some of my friends at work if they wanted to get ice cream with me after on July 31st, but no one was down for the CREAM. To my surprise, Justin comes up to me and says he knows this cool ice cream spot near his apartment in the Tower District. It's not CREAM, but the ice cream is still pretty good. July 31, 2020 - It was the middle of summer in Fresno, about 112 degrees outside and for some unknown reason, I wore pants and a long sleeve that day (probably because the AC was always blasting at the office). I drive over to Justin's apartment to pick him up and we drive over to Ampersand's Ice Cream. Justin buys my ice cream in honor of my birthday. He tells me that Van Ness Ave is beautiful and scenic, so we walk up the street, about half a mile (still in my pants and long sleeve) to Gazebo Gardens where there is this cool food truck selling Bulgogi Beef Burritos. Justin says I have to try it, so he buys a burrito and says we should walk over to the community college and sit down to eat. We walk some more (I'm all gross and sweaty by now), find a nice spot in the grass under a tree, and proceed to split this amazing Korean fusion burrito. We talk about my love for astronomy, what life before the pandemic was like, and life in the great outdoors. I got home that night thinking conversation has never felt so easy with someone and couldn't wait to see him at work on Monday. A few weeks later, thanks to my well-researched apartment that had modern insulation and central AC, I asked Justin to come over my apartment and I never wanted him to leave. In May of 2020, I would've told you that "love at first sight" was hogwash that movies and writers made up to romanticize physical attraction. But I loved you the moment I met you, Justin. Here's to many more years of silly stories and great adventures. I love you <3 -Thania Lopez