Growing up in St. Louis, Shavon Perkins never thought about living abroad. Not once. But a chance meeting in Denver years later brought her to London, England to start a family.

Born in Chicago and raised in St. Louis, 37-year-old Perkins was the self-described bossy middle child of an attorney who had his own practice, assisted by his wife. Her older brother and two sisters agreed with her self-description.

She graduated from Maryville University, a private school in St. Louis, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and then moved to Denver, Colorado to attend the University of Denver for her master’s degree in clinical social work, with a certification in interpersonal trauma.

While attending graduate school, Perkins worked in the local Veterans Administration hospital in the trauma center. Her journey to London began there.

“How I got to London is complicated,” she said, “so bear with me. I had a friend at the trauma center whose uncle had served in Afghanistan. While there he became close friends with a British soldier. So, her uncle called my friend Kelly and said his British friend was coming to Denver and asked if she would show him around. She and I did and it went so well he called later to ask if we would do the same for his brother, Richard. His visit went even better. He is now my husband.

Marriage did not happen immediately, though, Perkins told us.

“It was October of 2011 when I met Richard for the first time,” she said. “He returned to England after his visit to Denver and we spent a lot of time Skyping, Facebooking and texting. It is amazing how much you can learn about someone through modern communication.”

Richard Little, 38, is the Vice President of Energy at the global insurance firm Marsh in London. He sent her a ticket to visit him two months after they met and then promptly broke his leg. The two were together for six days and became completely smitten with each other. They married in July of 2012 and she moved to London in September of that year.