My girlfriends and I were heading to a Blackhawks' game and stopped in to Il Poveretto - a new restaurant in Melrose Park only a couple houses down from my girlfriend's house. We wanted to grab a drink while we waited for our Uber to take us to the game. We walked in and took a seat at the bar. We casually bantered with the bartender for a while, but we left and didn't really think anything of it. He comped our drinks : ) A few weeks went by and we went back to the bar for a casual drink. The same bartender was there and we bantered some more. As we were getting ready to head out, he asked for my phone number. I wasn't sure how to feel about the interaction, so I told him to give me his number instead. My girlfriends and I were out one night and they encouraged me to make the first move. And against everything I had ever believed, I made the first move. We messaged back and forth for a couple of days and decided to go on a first date. Our first date was a bit of a disaster to say the least. He picked me up at my house on time. And like a gentlemen, he courageously walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. He didn't know what awaited him on the other side of that door. He took a chance and, thankfully, didn't make me a beep beep girl. When I opened the door, he had the most beautiful bouquet of roses in his hands. I was really impressed and thought that he had set a good tone for the date. He said we were going to Folklore for dinner. I was excited. I had heard of the restaurant before, but had never been. We sat down and I could tell he was a little nervous. I told him Maria, the friend that was with me at the bar when we met, had texted me to ask how the date was going. As he reached across the table to glance at my phone, I jerked forward and the candle lighting our table lit my hair on fire. I remember being so upset. I had just gotten a haircut two days before. I still remember the smell of burnt hair lingering throughout the date. I was by no means planning our future at this point. He suggested we go to another spot after dinner, which I hesitantly agreed to. We sat at the bar and it turned out that the bartender was a friend of Michael's. Immediately, the bartender begins to pour us glassful shots. I had to work the next day, so I said I would take a small shot as a courtesy and that would be that. The bartender came back again and poured another round of shots. This time, I told Michael I was not taking it. In an attempt to save face with his friend, he took my shot and his. This happened a couple more times. At one point Michael went outside for a smoke, and I was left at the bar by myself. An over-served gentlemen from across the bar came over and asked to buy me a drink. Michael's friend caught glance of the interaction and swiftly ran outside to let Michael know that someone "was hitting on his chick". Michael knew it was the first date and that he had to be on his best behavior, so he let it slide. Unlike Michael, his friend had other plans. He walked back into the restaurant and stormed across the bar with the garbage can in hand and tossed the gentlemen's food into the garbage can and told him to "beat it". At this point, I was growing more weary that this date was headed anywhere. We head to another bar and as we were leaving, Micheal realized he had a flat tire. At this point, it is monsoon raining outside. He knew a couple guys at the bar and they knew he was on a date. They changed the tire for him. One of these guys was Michael's friend, Vinny (i.e. Rest in Peace), who may have been one of the main reasons why I ever considered going out with Michael on a second date. The fact that these guys loved Michael so much to sit in a torrential downpour to change a tire, was really amazing to me. It highlighted how much they valued Michael and their friendship. It meant he was good people. It was a game changing moment. The rest is history....