He was still interning across town at SpaceX before starting as a postdoctoral fellow in astrophysics at Caltech. But I managed to score an invitation to the Caltech department party in Pasadena at astrophysicist Kip Thorne's house, which had '60s vibes, replete with a Richard Feynman sketch of a naked woman, a hot tub, and a waterbed.
I was making a virgin drink when a man named Casey approached me, complimented my swimsuit (a photo from the moon landing) and said, “You must be Christine.” His demeanor also gave me '60s vibes. For the rest of the party, Casey followed me around and peppered me with questions about SpaceX. Then, at the end of the night, he mentioned that he had made custom space-themed rings and asked if I would like one.
Who was this man? And how could I get him away from me?
I started at Caltech in 2015, and when I met Casey, I realized that her behavior at the party was completely on-brand. She hadn't been flirting in any way: his interest in space and specifically SpaceX superseded any thoughts on the matter. And the ring? She offered to make rings for a variety of people she wanted to make a good impression on, regardless of their age or gender.
I was taking flying lessons and making a lot of extra income from software consulting. Casey was a private pilot with limited income who was constantly looking for people with whom he could share aviation fuel expenses. So when Casey frequently came to me for social (and practical) reasons, I never said no. We flew around Catalina Island. We then took a several-hour flight to the “Burning Man in the water” pop-up, better known as Ephemerisle, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
In the summer of 2015, we began nighttime hikes on Echo Mountain, another decidedly non-flirtatious hobby of his that he shared with colleagues of all backgrounds. I shared with him my dreams of starting a family, reducing my appointments to balance work and personal life, my plan to freeze my eggs, that I had given up on finding love and a co-parent, and that I hoped to live in Antarctica for a year before start my family alone.
He shared with me that he was nearing the end of his graduate school experience. She worried that he would not meet people as often again once outside the university environment and that, without a job available afterwards, he would have to return to Australia rather than live the American dream.
I started to think that I wanted him in America, even if I still couldn't admit that I wanted to date him. I made a few presentations and one of them resulted in an internship for him after he graduated. After countless tests and interviews, I received an offer for my dream job: working for a year at the South Pole. When she returned, would Casey be in Los Angeles or the United States? I was not sure. I knew that if I wanted to make a move, I was running out of time.
At the end of August, I received a text from Casey around 9 pm (That's what people who had a crush on you did, right?). A friend of mine was in town and even though I didn't drink, we went to a bar. I invited Casey. He refused and preferred to sleep. (Well, maybe not).
Casey went to Burning Man in early September and the same friend sold me her ticket at the last minute. I arrived at Burning Man just as everyone else was packing up camp. I connected with Casey, who looked like a mad scientist, covered in dust. Most of our mutual friends were gone, so we spent the day together. When the sun set, the temperature dropped and I began to shiver from the cold or from nerves. He gave me a hug to keep me warm and seemed surprised when he became closer.
We carpooled back to Southern California, took my rental back to Los Angeles, and stopped to dream under the stars. At the end of the trip he asked me if we were going to continue seeing each other like this and I said yes. That was it.
He drove me back from my egg freezing appointment the next month, made me pizza, and gave me ice cream while I recovered. He met my mother in November during Thanksgiving and referred to her as her future mother-in-law.
Encouraged by her marriage overtures, I mentioned that I was considering proposing; He said he would accept “only if he were a really big rock.” I bought a piece of magnetite (its presence on Mars indicates a possible history of biological life). In late November, we took an overnight hike up Echo Mountain. At the top, I gave her the large stone with a note that said: “Will you marry me?”
Weeks later, we spent the holidays with my family in Ohio and I left for Antarctica on New Year's Day 2016 from Los Angeles. He packed me a year's worth of gifts and notes; I wrote him a year of letters. We spoke daily over static phone calls as I experienced life alone under the southern lights. In November of that year, we met in Los Angeles and moved in together. We eloped less than a month after I returned. Earlier this month we welcomed our third child and look forward to a lifetime of love for space, each other, and family togetherness.
The author is an astrophysicist, explorer, administrator, software engineer, writer and mother. She lives with her husband and her three children in Sierra Madre. She is online at cristinacorbettmoran.com and on instagram @corbett.
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