We met when I needed help getting a bear out from under my family cabin on Woman Lake. Dawn, Andy Tri, my Mom (Kathy) came to my rescue…it’s a long story! I was captivated by her the moment I met her. There was no way Dawn hadn’t been scooped up. A beautiful, strong, kind woman like her in the Northwoods…not a chance. It turned out she liked music and beer and turned up to my gigs when I was playing at Revel…she showed up many times! One night it came up in conversation that Dawn's brother Chad, Mom and Dad (Sue and Jack) were going to help reroof her house. I’m more familiar with roofing than I’d like to be, I offered my help…friends show up for these kinds of things. When I saw her back up a dump trailer into the driveway around a stump on her passenger side and around a tree on her driver’s side and then square to the house without pulling forward to correct…I was stunned! Who was this amazing woman??!! A few weeks after, not knowing what her story was, not asking because I did not want to cross a line, she stopped by one day on her way to her family hunting land. Visiting, laughing and telling stories as we were playing cribbage, there was a moment she smiled so beautifully and pure my heart dropped. I remember that day like it was yesterday. Our relationship started to grow after that moment. We began to realize marriage was what we wanted. We had been looking for so long and finally found each other. We found the ring at Jewelers of the North. Beautiful, durable and meaningful. How will I ask the question? With our annual BWCA trip coming up I felt it the perfect opportunity. I found a heart shape rock and engraved “Dawn Plattner” on one side and “Will You Marry Me” on the other. Days of moving through the BWCA I carried the rock and ring waiting for the opportunity. For days we traveled through the lakes and forests. Our final night we were in the tent playing cribbage, Dawn was finally beating me. CRACK! of a sizable branch in the distance. Did you hear that? Yes. Another CRACK!..I think we have a bear. We made noise, blew whistles and banged pots and pans together, the bear kept moving in, very unusual behavior. The bear was less than 100’ away. It shook, I could hear its hide and jowls, it was close and concerning. We made the decision to put the tent and its belonging into the canoe and head for another campsite. We paddled a few miles and found a campsite, set up and settled down for the night…what a night! October 4, 2024, the sun rose to a calm lake racing with fog. The perfect opportunity had presented itself. We needed to go back to the camp to get the rest of our gear…mainly coffee. A little hairy approaching the site we found no bear but did see tracks all around and shredded bark on the tree where our food bag was hung. With high winds predicted there wasn’t much time for hanging out. I set the stone with her name up on the small point of rocks alongside our canoe as we started loading up. Back and forth Dawn went as we packed the canoe, back and forth she went stepping on and around the heart shaped stone with her name on it. My hand went in my pocket for the ring, out of my pocket, in my pocket...”Dawn! slow down, enjoy the scenery” I said. “We can’t, wind is picking up, we need to get on the water!”, “Take a moment on the point to take it in, look around”, “yeah?”, “look down!” She looks down and sees the rock with her name on it, she picks it up, looking at her name. On my knee behind her I tell her to “turn it over” she does and immediately tears up. “Well?”...The sweetest “Yes” I’ve ever heard. A quick hug and a kiss we take to the water. Her ring shining bright in the morning sun with every paddle stroke. We absolutely cherish our time together, work well together, our love is solid. We are strong and understanding. We love, care and value our family and friends. We respect ourselves and others. We are beyond thankful to have you as a part of our story, as a part of who we are.