I met Becky when she was 24.  She was a wild and crazy girl!  She liked to have fun which we did whether it was our company bowling league or simply drinking at the Red Robin (we called it the Red Roach) bar in our office building.  At Pansophic Systems, the team was pretty young.  So, every Friday, we would hang out at the Red Roach and drink.  I do not recall eating there.  Just drinking.  But, this is what we mid-20 somethings did.

We also liked to go on camping trips.  Our best trip was a road trip around Lake Superior, going through Duluth, Minnesota and returning through Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.  We had a little tent and a small Coleman stove.  We would try to pitch the tent in the most deserted places.  Near Thunder Bay in Canada, we were able to pitch our tent in woods about 20 feet from the Lake Superior shoreline.  There was nothing around us.  We built a fire and made our dinner right there.  So much fun!  Well, in the dead dark of the night with only the fire going, a large animal walked up to us; might have been a large fox or a coyote.  Becky made a bee line to the car and lock it up tight.  So funny!  On the way back, we got this most delicious fudge in Sault Ste. Marie.

On another road trip, we  went to Kentucky Lake.  Again, we had our tent and Coleman stove.  I found some cut wood and thought it would make a great fire.  I loaded up the car and drove to our campground.  Later, we started to find ticks in the car.  When we got home, we still had ticks; but we had them on us.  So, we picked the ticks off of each other.

Our last camping trip was when Becky was pregnant with Andy.  We were in Minnesota somewhere.  It was raining lightly.  So, instead of just finding a place to pitch our tent, we actually went into a campground.  As we drove in, there was a sign that said, “beware of raccoons, foxes and bears”.  Well, from that moment on, we never went camping again.  We stayed in a motel that night.  And, this was the beginning of Becky’s interest in more luxurious vacations.

At Pansophic, I was in the technical department, and Becky was in the accounting department.  As time when by, I started to advance where I was the manager of several area, one being product distribution.  Everyone knew that I was going out with Becky at the time.  And, when an opening for Distribution Supervisor came up, I asked around what people thought about Becky taking that job.  I was universally told that she would make a great fit, but she should never be considered because of her relationship with me.  Well, taking this advice as it was intended, I promoted Becky to the job.  The next day, the department was taken away from me.  But, Becky still got the new job!

When it came time for me to propose to Becky, she had no idea.  There was a small park that we went to occasionally that ran along the DuPage river.  It was pretty isolated; not many people would be there.  We had our own special place right by the river under a very large tree.  Being me, I wanted to surprise Becky.  But, let me regress a little.  My dad had a business relationship with this guy Irving Cohen.  His store was Irvine Cohen Jewelers at 5 Wabash Ave in Chicago with all of the other wholesale jewelers.  My Mom and I went there together.  Mr. Cohen was very nice and picked out this wonderful pear shaped diamond at just about one caret.  We picked out a ring and I was all set.  And, back to our story:  we were at our favorite park by the DuPage river under our favorite tree.  I had a bag of plums to snack on.  What Becky did not know was that her ring was in the bag.  I pulled out the ring from the bag and proposed.  But, she did not believe me.  She thought it was a play ring out of a plum bag.  Fortunately, it did not take me long to convince her otherwise.