Welcome to The Allen Wedding

So, the story goes, I, Liz got hired at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital in June 2018 (Thank you, Patty Mandrup, and Brad Pinkham for hiring me). This is the same hospital where Mike has been employed since November 2010 (Thank you, Alan Paschal for hiring him- you chose well!). We met each other frequently in passing when Mike did weekly rounds in the office building, I was working from. He would come in often and check the lights, or fire extinguishers (Which by the way, we cannot go anywhere without him checking fire extinguishers, to make sure they are up to code!). He would even run the occasional Chinese fire drill with his loyal companions of the SAFH Engineering Team. On these many visits we would lock eyes and spark up a conversation and talk like we were old friends. Then covid hit and I started working from home and had lost contact with Mike, since I was not in the office as frequent. Post covid, we started conversing and taking walks together around the hospital campus or even sometimes longer walks around the block, having lunch together and running into each other in the hospital hallways. I can’t remember all of what we talked about, but I knew there was something there. (Mike takes over) I remember seeing this young woman walking behind the hospital either on her morning walk or on her way to shipping and receiving. It was a warm spring morning. I thought, WOW! What an attractive young woman! I wondered where she worked. It wasn’t long after that, that I found out her department. While on a quarterly round, an HVAC maintenance or an accidentally pushed panic button (on her part), I found out where she worked. I now think that the buttons were purposely pushed as it happened quite frequently and every time, I had to reset them, we had a short conversation. What we talked about was Liz’s school and her ambitions and dedication to get her degrees, her bird – Tilly, work and friends. We also talked about what I should do with my aging parents. Although she didn’t have the answers I was looking for, in that matter, she directed me to a few of her colleagues that did have the answers. This would bring me around her office even more frequently. One afternoon on a trip to her office and meeting with one of her colleagues and after changing some light bulbs, I received a nice, friendly hug from Liz. I then returned to my office to find a Microsoft Teams message on my computer. She had stalked me! She looked me up and sent me a friendly message. I don’t remember what it said, but it dawned on me at that point that I didn’t even know her last name. She didn’t know mine either, but she was able to find me none-the-less! That was amazing because in the Sutter system I am listed as “Robert” not “Mike” as the name she knew me by. I was intrigued and I had to know more. So, every time I had to go to her office we sat and talked a bit about life and our current happenings. The rest is history. So, here sparks a multi-year friendship, which over time turned into the most beautiful relationship, and on December 21st, 2024, in the comfort of my home, in Colfax, I asked Liz to marry me and spend our lives together. Fire extinguisher checking and all. By the way…. The panic button mishaps have significantly decreased. (Liz think’s that’s because her new cubicle doesn’t have a panic button). From ‘Let’s take it slow’ to ‘Let’s plan a wedding’ in record time; by the time we are married, we will have 6 year and 3-month friendship, and have been dating for shortly over a year, a 9-month engagement, with an eternity to go. (This is Liz geeking out on number stats). We both truly cannot wait to celebrate our marriage union with you! All the best until then and see you in September!