RYAN'S SPIRIT LIVES ON AT CAFÉ TRAILER HE DREAMED OF OPENING

FIANCÉE OF MAN KILLED IN INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSION HONOURS MEMORY OF RYAN KONKIN

Natalia Sepulveda-Lastra remembers meeting Ryan Konkin that first time like it was yesterday: it was 7 p.m. on July 6, 2021 when she decided to head to Sunset Beach in St. Catharines to catch the sunset.

She strolled into the water of Lake Ontario, but then noticed a stranger walking towards her special spot on the beach.

"I was a little worried at first: I thought he better not sit there, that's usually my quiet space," she recalls.

But the man had the same idea, that it was his spot, too.

Sepulveda-Lastra later learned that Konkin sent his sister a text about a woman occupying his space.

"He said 'she didn't leave so I'm going to have to marry her,' " she said.

Sepulveda-Lastra and Konkin got to chatting.

"It was such an easy conversation, it was like we knew each other for ages," she said. "We immediately hit it off: it was like meeting up with a best friend.

"There was something there, something a little bit on the magical side."

Sepulveda-Lastra said the two strangers opened up to each other right away.

"We sat down and started moving closer and closer and sharing our dreams, and he said he liked to cook and he makes this great Cajun dish and he said we should hang out some time," she said.

Sepulveda-Lastra confided it was her dream to open up a coffee trailer and Konkin said they should do just that together.

On Saturday, a steady stream of people showed up at 5 Peacock Bay in St. Catharines for the official opening of the café bar a