Saturday, June 14, 2025 – Day 305

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Good morning. Happy Saturday.

First things first: I finished Certain Prey yesterday and jumped right into Easy Prey. So, to whoever is sending me these books, could you maybe include a gift receipt next time? Or at least a clue? Help a guy out, please!

Yesterday, we met Cindy and Barb’s cousin Lisa—on the Ring side of the family (maternal)—for a nice end-of-the-workweek lunch. She was in town for a business meeting in Barrington, and the timing was perfect for a little family get-together.

Barb and Cindy have cousins on both sides of the family that they’ve always been close to. Growing up, their families spent most holidays together, and over the years those cousin bonds have turned into a tight-knit, sibling-like network—minus the sibling drama I’m more familiar with.

Lunch was a chance for me to get to know Lisa better. She’s the youngest of the cousins and still in full-on career mode, doing very well in marketing. She brought along a copy of Possible Woman magazine, where she was recently featured (see photo). The magazine highlights remarkable women in business—and Lisa definitely fits the profile. It was great hearing her story and seeing her success firsthand. Thanks for sharing it with us, and congratulations again!

Since sharing the engagement ring story, I’ve had a few folks ask for the engagement story itself. Full disclosure: it’s not 100% crystal-clear in my head…but here goes anyway.

Once the engagement ring was ready, I picked it up from The Jeweled Elephant in Highland Park and drove straight to Crystal Lake. Cindy and her friend Lena were at the Lakeside Festival, which kicks off the July 4th festivities, and I was meeting them there.

Lena was in on the plan and helped steer Cindy toward me once I arrived. I was hanging out near the corn pop stand (romantic, right?) when I spotted Cindy about 20 feet away. I walked up, dropped to one knee, and before I could get a word out, Cindy blurted, “You’re not doing what I think you’re doing…?” I decided to ignore that and just pressed on. I asked her to marry me—with a story of how much I love her and wanted to spend my life with her. It was noisy at the festival with all the rides and games in the background, so much of what I said was impossible to hear. She got the gist of what I said and responded immediately with a “yes!”

Then I pulled out a ring pop (yep, the candy) and slid it onto her finger. That got a few laughs from the crowd that had gathered around us. When I stood up to kiss her, the crowd that was standing around us broke into applause. It was wild and overwhelming and perfect in its own way. At some point, I did swap out the ring pop for the actual engagement ring… I think. Honestly, we were so caught up in the celebration that part’s a little fuzzy.

But here’s what matters: Cindy said “yes.” And on August 9, 2005, we were married.

This year will mark our 20th anniversary. I’m thankful every single day that Cindy agreed to that blind date—and even more thankful that, after hearing my story, she was brave enough to say yes to a marriage proposal. I feel the love of our relationship every day. We each took a chance on that first date, and it turned out to be the best kind of gamble.

Have a great Saturday.

Love you guys! ❤️