BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times
CHRISTINE & ALLEN LAW
Live: Trussville
Married: July 7, 2022
Met: Summer 2020, at Ground Up Customs at its former location in Birmingham.
Christine was looking for someone to perform some body work on her vehicle. “The bumper on my car fell off and someone referred me to his body shop. I thought he was fine, but I had to keep my cool because I didn’t have no bumper,” she laughed. “I was a little embarrassed, but he was a gentleman about it and he did a great job on the car, but waited until [the business had concluded and] I paid in full before he asked if he could take me out some time,” Christine recalled.
“I had to keep it business at first,” Allen said. He became interested “as we talked while her vehicle was being worked on, and at the end I asked her if she was available. She said ‘yes’ and we ended up going to a place of her choosing.”
That place? “We went hiking at Red Mountain,” Christine said.
First date: Summer 2020, at Red Mountain Park off Lakeshore. Allen said Christine joked on him about his athletic clothes. “…she thought I was [being conceited], Allen laughed.
“He did not come out there in no hiking clothes, he came out there looking good and smelling good with a VOSS water bottle,” Christine laughed.
“I was wearing athletic clothes, they were just nice,” Allen said, “and I had never been hiking before so it was fun, but she wouldn’t go in the little cave [they found while on the hike and she didn’t want to go explore it with him.]
Christine said hiking was the perfect first date as it “bypassed the usual stuff on the first date when you’re trying to be cute… we were out there getting sweaty and getting to know each other,” she said. “We spent hours out there having great conversation. And yes, when he saw the cave and he said, ‘let’s go check it out I said ‘no, sir, I don’t know you like that’” she laughed. “It was great because we were really able to be ourselves with no filter.”
A second date soon followed. “After that, we went on a date to a Mexican restaurant and then I didn’t see her again for a year,” said Allen.
Despite enjoying one another’s company, “Neither one of us followed up, it was just life and timing. We had that great connection, but I was right in the middle of studying for my personal training certification, and I had tunnel vision on getting that accomplished because I was leaving my job to pursue that full time,” Christine explained.
The turn: A year later, Christine’s car would bring them back together again. In January 2022, Christine’s radiator went out and she circled back around to Allen to fix her car.
“Since he was so great and professional when he fixed my car the first time, I reached back out to him, and he did the same thing again — after I paid, he said he would love to reconnect again,” Christine laughed.
The pair re-established their connection but would keep it over the phone for a month. “… it was all text messages and phone calls,” Christine said. “That second time, I had already prayed for her to come back to me so when she pulled up, I started thanking God right then and there, and it went pretty fast,” Allen said.
By February “we did an indoor picnic at Allen’s place [on Birmingham’s west side],” Christine said. “He laid down a blanket, we had food, and everything. And by March, we celebrated my birthday in Vegas, and by Mother’s Day, he proposed.
“I wasn’t gonna let her get away again,” Allen said.
The proposal: At Christine’s place in Trussville, on Mother’s Day. “I came over with flowers and a candle as her Mother’s Day gift, and I showed Serene [Christine’s daughter, then 19] the ring first and she hollered, and Christine came out and said ‘what?’. And that’s when I turned around, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me,” Allen said.
Christine was caught off guard because “I was about to break up with Allen,” she laughed. “We had had a misunderstanding, and I was going through the motions and thinking this wasn’t going to work … So when he proposed, I was a crying mess because here I was thinking it wasn’t going to work and was planning to break up with him, and here he was planning to propose,” said Christine. When we reconnected, “he told me how serious he was about me and that he prayed for me to come back into his life and that he wasn’t going to let me get away from him again, so, ‘I said, ‘yes’.”
The wedding: At the Birmingham courthouse. They were dressed casually because both were on the way to the World Games kick-off ceremony at Protective Life Stadium, and Christine was determined to seal the deal on that day.
“I battled with myself about the best timing to get married, and when I heard from God that the time was now, I was ready. And we were determined to get married on 7/7 because of the significance of the meaning of the numbers. The number seven represents divine perfection, spiritual wholeness and completion, and I was determined for that to be our day.”
“I was with it because I had wanted to do it a week earlier but [she hesitated] so when she called me and said, ‘I’m ready’, I said, ‘let’s go,’” Allen said.
The couple share their most memorable moment. They felt like they were starring in their own rom-com movie as they worked together to overcome obstacles in way of the marriage.
“It was funny because we had to run back and forth between the courthouse and the FedEx downtown trying to get the papers notarized [correctly] because FedEx kept messing up the paperwork. And we were on foot, not in cars because the streets were all blocked off for the games, so we were sprinting back and forth like a movie trying to get the papers right and get them in before the courthouse closed. And they were closing early that day,” Christine said.
It took three trips to FedEx to get the paperwork right. “The guy at the courthouse who had to [process] our marriage certificate was rooting for us, he was our little cheerleader and kept us [aware of the timing], and each time we got on that elevator we were out of breath. And the police officer working the courthouse was the second cheerleader rooting us on,” Allen said.
“By the time we were done, we were tired, sweaty and musty,” Christine laughed.
“But we were married,” said Allen. “And we were so tired that we didn’t even make the kick-off, so we went and celebrated over dinner at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, on 280.”
They went on a weekend honeymoon trip to Panama City Beach Florida. “We got married around the same time we were opening my gym, Inside Out, so we just did a quick getaway,” Christine said. “We were so happy to reconnect and reflect on our journey getting back to one another and just being present in the moment amongst all the chaos we were experiencing with getting my gym opened.”
Words of wisdom: “If you get a second chance with the one that you prayed for, seize the moment,” Allen said.
“Marriage is worth it, even though you have obstacles, you’re overcoming them with the one you love. Marriage really requires humility because it’s not just about you, it’s about your partner, who is your teammate. Every day you have to choose each other. There’s a world out here telling us that we don’t need each other but I beg to differ. I don’t subscribe to that mentality. I value having a partner, Christine said.”
“There is a part of you that has to die daily to selfishness when you do get married and are trying to please each other in order for your marriage to work,” Allen added.
Happily ever after: The Laws attend Faith Chapel Christian Center, in Wylam, and are a blended family with nine children between them, ranging in ages 31-10. They also have six grandchildren.
Christine, 42, is a Poughkeepsie, New York native, and relocated to Birmingham in 2006. She attended Jefferson State Community College, where she earned an associate’s degree in early childhood development, and is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from UAB. Christine served for three years in the US Army at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in the 530th Battalion. She owns Inside Out Gym in Midfield where she also offers personal training.
Allen, 52, is a Miami, Florida native, and relocated to Birmingham in 1997, when he relocated for his truck driving career. He owns an automotive repair and collision restoration business called Ground Up Customs, located in Midfield.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
