Love By Any Other Name is Love Just the Same

In December 1985, Tamara Elias was a single gal who had moved to the Bay Area from San Diego and was working in San Francisco. A local radio station, KYUU, was hosting the "World Biggest Office" party at the Hyatt Regency and Tamara and a couple of her co-workers decided to check it out. 

The party was in full swing with a band playing. Tamara and a friend were watching the band and wondering if the musicians were KYUU employees. A man standing next to them overheard the question and told them that they were in fact radio station employees. The gentleman introduced himself as Nick Thompson, a news reporter for the station.

Tamara and her friend talked with Nick for a while and though he was nice to Tamara's friend, it was apparent he had his eye on Tamara. They ended up exchanging business cards. 

Tamara went on some lunch dates with Nick and was very excited when they arranged their first evening date. They agreed he would pick her up at her office building, One Embarcadero. He met her in her office and they made their way down to the underground parking garage. 

Nick stopped Tamara in the garage and said that his name wasn't really Nick Thompson. Tamara was a bit uneasy to be told this in a dark and deserted space and looked around for the nearest exit. Who was this crazy guy who all of a sudden was telling her that he had been using a fake identity? She didn't believe him at first and he had to pull out his driver's license to prove his point. 

It turned out that when Alan Elias was hired by NBC for the radio station management felt his name had too many vowels so he was asked to come up with a new one. Nick Thompson was the first name that popped into his head and an alter ego was born. 

Tamara said it took a while to get used to calling "Nick" Alan. Most people didn't even know Alan existed. When they married in May 1987, some people didn't come to the wedding because they had no idea who Alan Elias was when they got the invitation. 

When Tamara married Alan, she also assumed a new identity, frequently being referred to as Tamara Thompson at "Nick's" work-related events. 

 Tamara and Alan moved later to Los Angeles, where Alan actually got to be Alan full time. Their three children were born in L.A. but the family moved back to the Bay Area to live in Dublin in 2000. Tamara and Alan have a 20- year-old son, a 16-year-old son at and a 13-year-old daughter at .   

The names may have changed but the love of this Dublin couple remains the same.