Near the end of 2012, “dataminder” saw “g00fy-gal” on OkCupid.com, liked the words and pictures on her profile and their 87% match rating, and sent her a message. She liked the fact that he’d used the word “capricious”, and messaged back. Since this was way back in the day when Neil went to concerts constantly, and Rett lived near Lincoln Park, for our first date we went to see Trombone Shorty at the Park West.

Things spiraled up from there, with trips to the Renaissance Faire, Gatsby-like parties, Fermentation Fest, and long bike rides becoming traditions in our newly-joined lives that served as colorful backgrounds while we filled out the details of our love together.

In 2015, we took another big step up the staircase and removed the blockage of our mid-distance relationship by moving into a rental house on the far northwest side of Chicago, where Rett worked hard to adapt to a more suburban environment and a longer commute to work, while Neil learned to be a step-father to Pip and entered a lot of new data into Quicken.

But that “trial” worked as well as we could have hoped, so on Valentine’s Day 2017, we went for one of our nighttime walks through our nearby Forest Preserve, and in a grove of old oaks that we frequently admire from our bicycles, alone and together under the moonlight, Neil finally presented Rett with the sylvan-themed ring that she had been getting hints about for months as he worked through the design process, and asked her to be his partner forever in life. She said yes!

We then began the 20-month process of custom-designing the wedding of our fantasies (with a move to a new house we bought thrown in the middle), and are excited to have our family and friends celebrate and support our love on this day and into our future!