Welcome to the Baby Zone… A journey along the 34th Parallel.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Chris arrived in the sun-drenched sprawl of 34.05 degrees latitude. A shimmering mirage of Hollywood glitz, palm trees, and perpetual gridlock. A city where convertibles crawl through traffic like props in a slow-motion dream.

Cathy was born in Oxford, Mississippi, a few miles from the Tallahatchie Bridge, at 34.37 degrees latitude. The Deep South where the air is thick, and the past never quite stays buried. A place steeped in religious fervor and shadowed by voodoo mystique.

A Painted House and a Painting Prodigy

For Chris, a vivid childhood memory was that day when his mother painted their house her favorite color – bright pink. The family home instantly became a local landmark, drawing awe, curiosity, and plenty of gawking from students at John Burroughs Junior High, just a block away. To avoid notice as a resident, Chris would steer his bike up the neighbor’s driveway each afternoon, hoping to dodge the humiliation of being connected to “Big Pink.”

Cathy was an only child until age six, doted on by her grandparents and dressed in haute couture by her mother. At five, she could do no wrong – until the day her mother left her alone in their New Orleans apartment with a jumbo box of crayons. Inspired by her grandparents’ farm in Mississippi, Cathy began by turning the second-floor hallway into a mural of rural life, then carried her vision downstairs to the entire first floor hall. The Lockes spent a quiet evening scrubbing walls and the mural was never mentioned again.

Path to the Divine

Chris was raised Catholic, serving as an altar boy from the ages of 10 to 14. He served Latin Mass for Cardinal McIntyre, the archbishop of Los Angeles, took four years of Latin at Loyola High School, and can still recite the “Suscipiat Dominus.”

Cathy’s introduction to religion came on Friday nights in rural Mississippi, attending tent revivals with her grandmother. The faithful spoke in tongues and handled snakes as part of their worship. At just six years old, Cathy underwent an exorcism for speaking to the dead.

Born to Bicker and Gypsy Artist

Childhood is full of challenges, and Chris and Cathy were no exception. For Chris, being one of six children came with benefits and challenges – especially in the form of his younger brother Peter. As a youngster, Chris was studious, athletic, and somewhat of an introvert. Peter was, well, not that. They often butted heads, especially as the only Rauen siblings forced to share a bedroom. Chris was subjected to nightly snoring and relentless daytime torment. Luckily, Peter went off to a private school in Claremont for his sophomore year of high school.

At eight years of age, Cathy was uprooted from the South by her ambitious father, beginning a decade of near-annual moves. Her final stop before college was high school in Arcadia, California – just miles from Chris. In her second week, an art teacher recognized her talent and sent her to the bleachers to paint the school’s Apache warrior mascot. Standing alone in the blazing California sun – Cathy was once again the new kid, unsure of her place. Just another stop on a restless road, training to be a gypsy, and unknowingly, an artist in the making.

Jonathan Club Diaries: Waves for Him, Wine for Her

Both Chris’s and Cathy’s families belonged to the Jonathan Club, a private social club with a prime location on the beach in Santa Monica. Chris would often ride the Wilshire bus from his home to the beach, ready for a day of body surfing and beach volleyball –exactly what Southern California kids were supposed to do.

For the Locke children, outings to the Jonathan Club were one-on-one time with their father. They arrived like the Addams Family on vacation – formally dressed, hurrying indoors to minimize sun exposure. The Lockes were food-and-wine people. By age ten, Cathy could describe a good Pouilly-Fuissé, and visits to the Santa Monica club meant escargot and sneaking sips of her dad’s Chardonnay.

Teletext to Turnips: Chris and Cathy Enter the Workforce

After college, Chris and Cathy were both searching for direction. Chris spent one fall season adrift in Santa Rosa before returning to school to study journalism and photography at Santa Monica College. He worked briefly as a reporter for the Santa Monica Outlook before landing a job as overnight editor for CBS Teletext, a cutting-edge experiment in electronic media. To start each shift, he would watch Late Night with David Letterman (its first season) from the couch in an executive office until the wire feeds kicked in – then spring into action to edit news, weather, sports and more in the quiet hours before dawn.

Cathy’s first job was as controller for the Red Clover Workers’ Brigade, a food co-op modeled loosely on communist Russia and a pioneer in organic food distribution. She found the job through college friends and brought a valued skill: she was the only one who even remotely knew how to create a profit and loss statement.

Almost Famous – Close Encounters with the A-Listers

Throughout their journeys, Chris and Cathy had the occasional brush with famous people and historic events. Chris saw Jimi Hendrix in concert (twice), witnessed two World Series games, and attended the first Super Bowl in 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (the Packers beat the Chiefs). He met Muhammed Ali at a Laker game, and jogged alongside O.J. as he carried the Olympic torch through Santa Monica on its way to the Coliseum to kick off the 1984 Olympics.

Cathy, meanwhile, held a field pass at Candlestick Park during the Joe Montana glory years with the SF 49ers. She once had cocktails with a man she was convinced couldn’t possibly be Neil Armstrong… until he assured her that he was. Cathy also witnessed Nixon’s resignation first-hand, standing just feet from the helicopter as he left the White House lawn, peace signs and all.

Same latitude. Different worlds.

While born along the same latitude, Chris and Cathy have traveled separate but occasionally overlapping paths. Evolving from pink houses to tent revivals, meetings with icons, working for a Marxist co-op to figuring out what to do next.

One fateful day, their paths finally crossed at an Italian caffé in Marin County. Chris was savoring a pastry; Cathy, in bliss with her cappuccino. When Chris responded to a question with five simple words – “I do love an adventure” – Cathy knew he was the one.