They say you can't meet the love of your life in court-ordered anger management classes...we're living proof that's not true. Of course, that's not the story. 😂 There are actually two stories about how we met—the real one and the other one. But both started with a conversation about rollercoasters. 🎢 Early on, Diane revealed that she had an adventurous spirit, just not the rollercoaster kind. Gary was relieved (he hates rollercoasters, too). Neither of us is a fan of motion sickness or plunging to the earth at high rates of speed - go figure🤢. He said, "I couldn't agree more on rollercoasters." The adventure began right then and there! Our story is a long one (think hard cover, dictionary-like, multiple volumes long 📚😍); a very happy one, not without a few small plot twists or challenges along the way, but the kind that ends with, "And they lived happily ever after." 🥂❤ We've been eight years in the making! Yes, eight. Truthfully, when we met, we were both love-weary. And when we unexpectedly met, we had no idea that we were about to save each other...and save each other we did. Without question, we were most definitely destined to meet. We had finally found what we had been looking for all our lives: true love, a dedicated partner for all of life's joys and challenges, and a best friend. Our first date was movie-level spectacular (Hollywood couldn't script it any better), but described differently by each of us... Diane: "It was the best first date ever in history." Gary: "It was the worst first date ever...it involved theft, the police, gambling, and getting caught in a storm." In fairness, Gary is mostly accurate. 🧥 My coat got stolen at a bar (I'm sure accidentally; I do still miss that jacket). 👮‍♂️ The police stopped us when we made a wrong turn out of a parking lot (the sign was barely visible, and the police were waiting to bust people). 🎱 Gary won a great bet with me in a game of pool, but Mr. Competitive didn't feel he did so fast enough. 🌨 We did get caught in a rainstorm, but the kind in a Nicholas Sparks movie. We were standing outside of Gary's vehicle kissing, and it started pouring down rain (VERY romantic!). From the start, we laughed so much and are still laughing together every day. Our humor, our values, our goals, and our personal stories all just meshed so well. Maybe one could really have this kind of amazing love that had seemed so fictional or, at the very least, elusive. Spoiler alert: it's not only possible; that's exactly what we found! But we had a long way to go. We treaded carefully because we were not alone in this adventure - we were both package deals. With four amazing but still young daughters in tow (and living over an hour apart), it was our first and foremost mission to make sure they were always okay. Taking two families, who start off as strangers, and combining them to make one true, loving, imperfectly perfect family…the kind that laughs and jokes together, makes incredible memories together, can give each other crap at times and bicker, but still has each other’s backs and will always be there for each other…a family of people you can always count on…is not an easy feat. It takes time. It’s slow release. It’s delicate. It takes lots of little moments, proof of concept, small bumps along the way, and, most importantly, mutually sacrificing hearts where lots of love takes root and grows freely. The girls each got on their own paths. After years of travels, celebrations, holidays, milestones, and a million little moments together, we made a family...a fantastic one! So when Gary assembled all the girls to get their blessing, they were excited (and said about time). At sunset on June 30, 2024, on the beach at St. Joseph, Michigan, Gary popped the question. Diane said, without a moment's hesitation, "Yes!" We're excited for the rest of the story...♥♥