For those that don't know how Jen and Bill met, it's a little bit of a funny story. When I (Rachel) had my first serious boyfriend in high school, my mom had some pretty debilitating medical issues. She didn't go out much, and her life consisted of trying to manage her pain level and keep herself comfortable. However, I was tired of seeing her let her illness control her. I finally convinced her that she should come with me and said boyfriend to the Berville 3-day event. I told her that it would be a lot of fun, and she could walk around with us to look at all of the trucks, get some fair food, and enjoy herself. After much convincing, she decided that she would go. We were there all day, and we were having a great time, laughing, and enjoying seeing her let loose. Then came Bill. For those that don't know, I was friends with Bill's son, Billy, long before our parents knew each other, so it is really a surprise that they had not met sooner. I didn't know that Bill was going to be at this event, however, he came up to where we were sitting, and could not stop staring at Jen. He was immediately so infatuated with her that he couldn't look away and it was completely adorable and 100% gross, especially when he asked Billy who the woman was with the super nice ass (gag). I could tell that she also thought he was cute, because she was giggling constantly like a little girl with her first crush. After Bill introduced himself to Jen, they talked all night. Bill even went as far as to ask me if he could take her on a date, to which I said, "absolutely not". He laughed it off and said he respected my opinion, and they would just be friends. But what I didn't know, was that they would run into each other again a few weeks later. They immediately jumped back into conversation as though no time had passed and eventually exchanged contact information. They began talking CONSTANTLY, I swear her phone went off every minute for days. He asked me again if he could take her out on a date to which I again said, "absolutely not". Well, he asked her anyways because he was basically obsessed with her and thought she was gorgeous (clearly, I'm paraphrasing here). We argued about it, and I was upset, but they clearly really liked each other. They went on their date, and he was a perfect gentleman, and she had an amazing time. She came home swooning like it was the first date she had ever been on. Ever since that day, they have been completely inseparable and unable to live without each other, and Bill MAY have grown on me just a little bit because I love that guy now and could not imagine him not being in my life.

Bill had spent years telling me that he would never get married again, and I had begun to accept that we would just be partners in crime for the rest of our lives. However, when he was willing to get on a plane and go on a cruise, two things he said he would absolutely never do, my kids and my family knew that something was up. Little did I know, he had spent the few months before the cruise looking at rings, and asking my daughter which one she thought I would like for a "birthday present". He was sneaky, and had the ring ordered and sent to my best friend's house so that I wouldn't open the package when it got delivered. We landed in Miami, Florida on February 5th, 2023. We dropped off our bags and went to Miami Beach with our closest friends. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I was so happy to just be there with the love of my life. Well, little did I know that I would turn around on that gorgeous beach, and he would be asking me to marry him. I was completely shocked, and incredibly happy, and didn't even have to think twice before saying yes.