It's Finally Happening!

The year was 2011….(Good Lord, that was 14+ years ago) Andrew was returning for his sophomore year at Benedictine University; Michelle a new transfer student. A pre-season meeting in the baseball stadium is where this love story began. Well…..sort of. In the beginning, Andrew saw Michelle as a girl with an unexplainable “valley girl” accent who was obsessed with her “Old School”. To Michelle, Andrew was a scrawny dork who knew far too many lyrics to C-list rap songs. Don’t these two sound like a match made in heaven?!? Although they met in the fall of 2011, they didn’t really pay much attention to each other until the following year when they happened to share a night class together. Having no idea who anybody else in the class was, the two of them sort of stuck together from the first night of class. Michelle offered to pick up Jimmy John’s as there wasn’t much time between practice ending and class starting. This became the norm for the next 16 weeks. It was during this time that Andrew started to really pay attention to Michelle. Michelle….well, Michelle was not on that same page…yet. Throughout the next several months, Michelle and Andrew started to become better friends. Post-practice meals, study sessions in the library, taking another class together. Although Andrew will deny it, Michelle claims he changed his whole schedule to be in class with her. It was around this point that Andrew worked up the courage to ask Michelle on a date, nothing fancy or formal, just some chicken tendies at Tom and Eddies (RIP). Both of them had a nice time. Andrew went home thinking this was the beginning of something more, Michelle….well, Michelle was not on that same page…yet. As time went on, the two of them started spending a lot more time together. They would sit together on the bus on the way to and from XC meets. Michelle would come hang out at Andrew’s (and Tyler’s, Evan’s, and Flips’) apartment between classes. They would go for walks in the forest preserve across the street. Andrew would venture out to Michelle’s house on the weekends to hang out and watch TV and Movies. Andrew, as any normal human being would think, started to feel like he and Michelle were becoming an “item”….Sorry Andrew…..Michelle is not on that same page yet. You’re going to have to work a little harder than that. After Michelle graduated, Andrew wasn’t sure how things would work between the two of them; Michelle was entering the working world and wouldn’t be around as much. Andrew was busy during the day, and Michelle would work at night. It seemed like it just wasn’t going to work. But Andrew wasn’t ready to just let Michelle slip away. Enter Topper’s Pizza (RIP in IL) Fantastic pizza joint, open until 3AM. Michelle would call on her way home, Andrew would order and pick it up and meet Michelle at her house as she pulled in the driveway. This is one of their favorite past times and is when Michelle’s attitude towards Andrew changed. Although their schedules didn’t complement each other, Michelle and Andrew found ways to spend time together. Since the time Michelle opened up to the idea of being with Andrew (we’ll call it 12 years ago), they have experienced so much together. Michelle buying her first home, Andrew remodeling Michelle’s first home, Covid, moving in together, Covid Puppy “Winston”, Covid Puppy “Millie”, Michelle buying her second home, Andrew remodeling Michelle’s second home, many life changes, new jobs, lost loved ones. Together, they have grown in so many ways, and they are so excited to grow even more in marriage! HOLLA!