Before Robyn Berg (M.F.A. Acting ‘08) and Robert Hernberger (B.S. Journalism ‘98) celebrated two children and seven years of marriage, they were strangers who happened upon each other at Lillian’s Music Store, a bar in downtown Gainesville.
It was December 2005, and Robyn was celebrating a friend’s birthday. With a self-admitted weakness for musicians, she noticed a cute singer playing on stage. The performer went by the name Berg, a happy coincidence because it also happened to be Robyn’s surname.
It wasn’t long before the birthday girl dragged Robyn outside to meet Berg while he was on his set break. The two bonded over the shared nickname and the rest was history.
“It happens when you least expect it,” Robyn said. “I was knee deep in grad school when I met my husband. I think a higher power gave us virtually the same name, so we'd have to stop and notice.”
The two named their first daughter Lillian, a tribute to the place they met. Although they have relocated to Blacksburg, the couple still returns to Gainesville often.
