Nine years ago, Emil and Lisa were each starting their new jobs at the Westville Prison- Emil as a Correctional Officer and Lisa as a Substance Abuse Counselor. On their first day at the new hire orientation, Lisa noticed Emil instantly. During lunches and breaks they frequently had great conversations and realized they had more in common than expected. Lisa found herself going out of her way to be around Emil, but he didn't pick up on the hints. Emil finally made a move, and, not long after, they went on their first official date at Navy Pier. On 11.5.12 they decided to make their relationship "official".

Lisa and Emil were preparing to celebrate their ninth anniversary. Due to busy schedules, not much had been discussed in the way of plans. To Lisa's surprise, Emil had it all taken care of with dinner and hotel reservations for the weekend. Upon arriving at the The Hilton on the Magnificent Mile, Lisa was surprised to walk into a 27th floor suite with views of Lake Michigan. They got ready for dinner and walked across the street to the Signature Room in the John Hancock Building where they were greeted at the table with a bottle of champagne. Lisa wasn't catching on as they had made full weekends out of dates before and Emil had champagne at the table for previous anniversaries. They enjoyed each other's company, incredible views, and fantastic food. Despite being full from dinner and having concerns they'd be late for the comedy show they had tickets for, Emil insisted on ordering dessert. A few minutes after dessert came out, the waiter brought out a glass. Lisa was confused as they already had drinks at their table, and hadn't asked for anything extra. After a few seconds, Lisa began to comment on the strange glass when the ring suddenly caught her eye. Surprise and shock ensued as Emil pulled the ring out and asked her to marry him. As Lisa cried tears of joy and accepted the proposal, the entire wait staff (who was in on it the whole night) was clapping and cheering!