11 years ago today, I asked Katie to marry me at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Hard to believe it has been that long. It has flown by.

We went to a concert and had a picnic near Navy Pier at Grant Park. I made Caesar salads because they were easy and I wasn’t a great cook then.

Afterward, we walked around Navy Pier, looking at the boats in the water as the sun set. To carry the ring, I brought my camera bag and pretended to take pictures of Chicago. I told her my mom wanted pictures of Chicago. Which was kind of true, but I’m not even sure what I took a picture of.

We finally sat down on a bench on the pier and she said, “Do you know what would make this moment perfect? If you had a ring.”

I panicked. I intended to ask her, but the ring was in the camera bag next to her on the bench and I wasn’t near it. So, I did what all smart guys do at that moment, I told her to close her eyes.

I got the ring out and got down on a knee and said, “Katie.” At this point, she thought I was mocking her with the camera flash or something, and she took a swing at me and almost knocked the ring into lake Michigan. My one foot was on the edge of the water.

I looked at her and I asked her to marry me. And the rest as they say, “Is history.”