A college student from Bulgaria chose Cincinnati on a whim for an exchange work program. She ended up falling in love with more than just the Queen City.

Krasimira (Krasi) Beck and her friends landed jobs at CVG Airport in the summer of 2004. Krasi worked at a small sandwich restaurant in the former Terminal 2. While she was keeping busy with the influx of passengers, she became close friends with one of her coworkers, Adam.

Krasi said Adam was very funny and friendly. They were nothing more than friends that summer, although towards the end of her time in the United States, she noticed Adam started becoming extra helpful towards her and her friends. He even started driving them home after work.

Krasi returned to Bulgaria to work on her undergraduate degree. She enjoyed working at CVG Airport, and she was eager to return the next summer.

Even though Adam and Krasi were a continent apart for a year, there was a spark between them that did not extinguish while they were living separately. The two started dating when Krasi returned the next summer to work at CVG.

This time, Krasi had jobs at two different restaurants at CVG, and her boyfriend, Adam, was a manager for a couple of stores and worked 12-to-13-hour shifts.

“We pretty much lived at CVG Airport…we would have our lunch dates in the food court,” said Krasi.

When the summer came to an end and it was time for Krasi to return to Bulgaria, she and Adam decided to date long distance. He flew to the small European country that winter to meet Krasi’s family for the holidays.

Although the two were very fond of each other, it was quickly becoming time for them to decide their future. Krasi only had one summer left before her senior year of college. She knew she was going to return to CVG to work for a third year, but she was unsure where her and Adam’s relationship was heading. After she graduated, she was either going to pursue her master’s degree or get a full-time job.

When Krasi returned to the United States in the summer of 2006, she continued dating Adam, and the two worked long hours at CVG. Her decision then became clear.

“Towards the end of the summer, he basically proposed to me. He was like, you’re finishing school, what’s next?” said Krasi. “He said, ‘I want you to stay. I love you.’’”

Krasi said she loved Adam too and accepted his proposal. The two were soon married, and Krasi moved permanently from Bulgaria to Northern Kentucky. Her husband, who she fell in love with partially for his humor, jokes to this day about how he had to move from the West Side of Cincinnati for his wife.

“I am still hearing to this day how he made this ‘horrible’ switch moving 30 minutes south. I moved five thousand miles and a continent away. He doesn’t mean it in any bad way but if someone asked him how we ended up in Northern Kentucky, he would say, ‘Yep, the wife. I love Cincinnati, I was born and raised here…but it’s because my wife made me move alllll this way.’”

Jokes aside, Krasi said they enjoy living in Northern Kentucky. She earned her master’s degree from Northern Kentucky University and appreciates the convenience of living close to the airport.

“It’s our home airport to fly anywhere. I used to go back home to Bulgaria every year,” said Krasi.

Krasi and Adam now have two kids, a seven-year-old boy named Adrian and a four-year-old girl, Liana.

After becoming parents, traveling became more difficult for the Becks. Krasi said recent route additions at CVG are going to make traveling to see her family easier.

“We love the fact that there is a direct flight to Paris and now British Airways because it gives us a direct flight to Europe, and we make one connection to Bulgaria.”

She said without these nonstop flights from CVG, she would have to make more connections, and it would take them longer to see their loved ones.

Krasi said she’s very thankful for all that the airport has made possible for her and Adam.

“It’s been our home airport since 2004, so if you really think about it, it’s 19 years…CVG Airport grounded us, and we put our roots down to settle in this location. We are still just five miles away from where our love story started.”

Krasi and Adam take their kids back to where their love story began. She points out to their kids where mommy and daddy worked. She also tries to make a point to visit a friend who worked at Starbucks in 2004 and is still there today.

She said visiting her friend reminds her of the three summers she worked at CVG. In addition to being where she fell in love with her husband, it also provided a professional milestone.

“It’s a surreal feeling…it brings us back. We weren’t high schoolers, but it gives us that feeling. It was my first American job. I didn’t have any jobs in Bulgaria. This was my first job coming here with girlfriends,” said Krasi. “It reminds me of my happiest of memories; it reminds me of my younger years; it reminds me of my romance. Honestly, this is where my husband and I fell in love. We were coworkers at the beginning but that is how we met.”

Krasi and Adam now have careers outside of aviation; she is an IT programmer, and Adam is an executive chef at a retirement home. They enjoy spending time around the Cincinnati area with their two kids. She says she looks forward to taking more flights with her family to Paris with Delta Air Lines and to London with British Airways, starting in June 2023. She said she can’t thank CVG enough for all that the airport has done for her and family.