It had been a long day at work and so I decided to hit my normal spot at my normal bar in the South Loop. No one I knew was in, however, so I was nursing a glass of the cheapest beer on the menu and getting ready to leave for the Rock when I looked up and noticed Michelle. She was by herself and scowling at something in her phone, so I took a chance and decided to start a conversation... A year and a half later I’m engaged to her, a woman who always takes care of me when I’m sick and who shares in as the partner of my labors. She is with me when I am up and when I am down. When things are good and when things are bad. I love her.

I never believed that I would meet the love of my life. It was right after New Year’s 2018. I was tired and didn’t want to go home after work. I decided to stop by at my favorite South Loop bar that I haven’t been to in awhile. I was drinking a fabulous martini and saw Jim. I had seen him there before and always found him to be a bit annoying. It was like serendipity, yes right out of the movie, and he asked me to sit with him. That was it. We talked and I knew that it was real and light and easy. From that day until now we have been inseparable and I know that I have found my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate.