Welcome to our wedding!

Both were working at the same hemodialysis center, and Tony walked by Diana out on the treatment floor, doing a very obvious double take. He asks their mutual coworker if Diana was single. The coworker tells Diana she has a "secret admirer". Thinking it's probably a patient, Diana groans and rolls her eyes. The next things she knows, Tony is at her office door introducing himself and chatting away. He asks her out for that night, and their first date was a cozy Italian dinner and a movie. A week or so later, Tony went to California to visit family and he told Diana he couldn't wait to get back home to start spending time with her. We will celebrate 10 years together just before we're married!

Tony secretly planned a long weekend getaway to California which started serendipitously with spotting a disco ball in the airport ; always a good omen! We flew to San Diego and spent a couple days on Coronado Island and exploring the city. From there we drove up the coast to Newport Beach and Costa Mesa and spent the night at the Ayres Hotel. For the last night of the trip, Tony arranged a stay at the Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point. He popped the question on one knee with a custom designed engagement ring of Diana's dreams in the gazebo of the Roman gardens overlooking the ocean.

Along with everyone else, we had a very emotional and uncertain 2021, so after much heartfelt consideration we made the difficult decision to postpone the wedding from October 31, 2021 to June 25, 2022 for a number of reasons. Luckily, the pandemic worked in our favor, and our wedding planners Jen and Aly were able to smoothly transition most of our vendors to the new date, find a couple of new vendors and sooth our frayed nerves. In the interim, we both tragically suffered the heartbreaking loss of our mothers. My mother Barbara lost her battle with ovarian cancer in December and Tony's mother Lucy lost hers with lung cancer this month. My friend of 50+ years, Lisa, passed away unexpectedly in August, and we also suddenly lost our beloved fur baby Alia after 9 years. There were several others too who chose not to be a part of our lives any longer. Genes and blood we have learned, do not always equal a family. To say it's been a very rough few months is an understatement. So.....Diana will now be a June bride, we hope the infamously unpredictable Chicago weather cooperates on the big day, and we firmly believe that the people who are meant to be there, those who truly love and support us, will be at our sides whether in person or in spirit.