I was good friends with Jake’s step mom Jenni and his dad Steve. Jenni was celebrating her 50th birthday at the Effingham Knights of Columbus Hall. A place in town we like to visit for all occasions. Steve’s family was invited and I had met his daughters before but only had heard of his son Jake. We had a few drinks together and ended up chatting throughout the night. We decided to go on a date the following Saturday and we’ve been together ever since. We moved to Saint Elmo in the fall of 2023 and are looking forward to raising our kids there.