For many, the fall of 1991 came and went without consequence, but for this love story it was a particularly productive season. Not only were Mary Anne and Dave pleasantly surprised with Shannon, the little girl of their dreams, but less than one month later, Cindy and Tim welcomed their first-born child, Patrick, into the world. Despite living only 15 minutes away from each other for most of their lives, fate did not bring Patrick and Shannon together. Instead, over the course of the next eighteen years, countless volleyball games, AP exams, and slumber parties would prepare Patrick & Shannon to leave home and pursue degrees at University of Illinois, having never crossed paths. As many freshmen do, Shannon and Patrick joined the Greek system at U of I in hopes of making life-long friends. Despite even greater proximity of space and circumstance, including mutual friends, classes, and favorite local bars, still their paths did not cross. Then came spring break 2012, when the U of I Greek system descended upon South Padre Island. Shannon and Patrick each traveled down to the Texas border with friends, not knowing this trip held the single moment that would forever change their lives. On the second day of their trip, Shannon spotted Patrick across the room and unapologetically asked her best friend to make the introduction. Sparks flew, but the two remained “just friends” until they headed home to the Chicago suburbs following their spring semester. Finally, a slow easy summer of pool parties, golf-around-the-house dates and bottles of wine split over dinner took friendship to love for Patrick and Shannon. Attached at the hip ever since that summer, fate had finally found its way. We are so excited to share the next step of our journey with family and friends as we celebrate our marriage on May 17, 2019!