If you’re reading this, chances are you know this story by now because Laura loves to tell it so much but if somehow you haven’t heard it, here it goes....It was the Superbowl in 2013 and the Ravens were playing the 49ers. Laura was working as a server at Ed ‘N’ Joe’s in Tinley Park. Mike was neighbors with and a very good family friend to the owner, Michael Clark. Mike and his parents had come in to watch the superbowl with Mr. Clark and his wife, Ellen. Laura told Mr. Clark how cute she thought the boy sitting with him was and as she went to deliver drinks to the table, Mr. Clark exclaimed, “Laura this is Mike Thomas, the guy you think is cute. He’s single.” Laura then waited on the table the rest of the night, totally embarrassed. At one point she was so nervous, she spilled barbeque sauce on Mr. Clark which she tried to blame on the bus boy. At the end of the night, Mike left his number on a paper napkin and they went out together afterwards and the rest is history. (Oh yeah, after they went out together Mike dropped Laura and her friend Emma off at their friends house where they were supposed to stay but she didn’t answer the door so Emma and Laura walked back to Laura’s car at Ed ‘N’ Joes in a blizzard....thanks Laura Lee 🤣)

Fast-forward exactly 6 years and it’s the Superbowl 2019 and the Patriots are playing the Rams. Mike and Laura are at Ed ‘N’ Joes watching the game as they do every year to celebrate their anniversary. Mike is called on stage to help call out raffle numbers. Mike accidentally calls out his own number before calling out Laura’s. When Laura goes to the stage to redeem her prize, Mike is on one knee. Turns out she got the best prize she ever could have ever asked for.

After spending months house hunting, Laura graduating from the academy and transferring jobs, and a fairly long engagement...We have finally set a date! We chose Key West because its the first vacation we took together and a place we truly fell in love with. The location is Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, a former military fort which played roles in the Spanish-American and Civil wars. The ceremony will be at an area in the park called the Point, which is the point at which the Atlantic Ocean meets the Gulf of Mexico. Just as the two bodies of water come together so too will these two families. The reception will be located inside the Fortress with dancing and other shenannigans in the Courtyard.