We officially met when our boys, Anthony and Everett, joined the same Boy Scout Troop in Johnsburg in February of 2019. At that time, planning was already underway for summer camp that June. We had been friendly and talked frequently while at scouting meetings and events but summer camp would bring us even closer. It was the boys first year going to summer camp and it was the general understanding that the parents there would "follow" the first year scouts around to make sure they knew where they were going and what time to get there. After the first day the boys were able to navigate on their own, which left us time to get to know each other better. The only way to get around camp was to walk, so we did so much walking and talking that week. We really enjoyed the time walking and talking about everything that came to our minds. It was effortless and the conversations kept going. By Wednesday morning Mark noticed something different in Gina's voice and her interest in him finally broke through his thick skull. Wednesday was also laundry day and we had volunteered to take all the scout's dirty laundry and go into town to the laundromat. One of the perks to doing laundry was that we could have lunch in town instead of in the dinning hall with all the scouts. Again we talked and laughed almost the whole time. Later in the week Gina was talking about doing a "Couch to 5K" program to get more active and Mark told her if she wanted a running companion, he would be happy to do it with her. Gina shot him down and said that she would make Anthony go with her. During our days at summer camp we passed the time playing games. Gina taught Mark how to play dominos. Part of playing dominos is mixing up the dominos before drawing them. While mixing the dominos our hands kept touching and we would look at each other and smile those shy smiles that said, "I like you". A day or so after summer camp Gina texted to see if Mark was serious when he offered to do the "Couch to 5k" program with her. He said he was and we set a date to go to Moraine Hills State Park to begin the program. The first day was mostly walking and we picked right back up where we had left off at camp. The next day of the program was July 1st and after we finished walking we were about to leave and Mark said he really wanted to kiss her. He froze as he waited for a reaction, thankfully Gina didn't leave him hanging very long and we had our first kiss. We continued with the Couch to 5k program and would often sit in a clearing at Moraine Hills State Park when we were done. We said that we "officially" met in February of 2019 when our boys joined the Boy Scout Troop. We had wondered if our paths had crossed before, given our boys being in Cub Scouts and living in neighboring towns. We figured they had, and as Gina was flipping through pictures of past Cub Scout Day Camps there was the photo proof. 2 years before we officially met Mark was leading some team building events for a day and Gina was helping to chaperone the pack that Anthony was in and she took a picture of the pack doing the event that Mark was leading.

There was no other place it could have been. Moraine Hills State Park was where we spent so much of our early time together, where we had our first kiss, and where we would sit in a clearing and just enjoying time together away from everything else. It is safe to say that this is where we fell in love with each other. We hadn't been back there in a while and the evening was beautiful, a few clouds, warm, and as usual not many people around. Sitting there in the clearing and just talking about life and everything that was going on, I knew the time was right to ask. We were about ready to leave when I said, "before we go, there is one more thing." The look that Gina gave me was a quizzical look and as I slid off the seat onto one knee I'm pretty sure she didn't know what I was doing. I had thought of so many things to say leading up to it. And as I was on my knee I realized that the simplest thing to do was going to be the best. To just ask "Gina, will you marry me"? Her answer was quick and we hugged close and tight. After a few moments I put the ring on her and looking up at her, she was beaming.