The story of the Risken Hermanns begins where all good stories start, a chance meeting on a random Tuesday. Lily and Erik had both become regulars at the Minnehaha dog park. On one fateful day however, Lily despite being a "pro" dog parker was knocked down, rudely by her own dog! Luckily in this moment a stranger was passing by, a stranger who despite wearing hospital scrubs could not offer any medical expertise.

As Lily lay with an injured arm, an energized dog, and a spilled coffee the stranger offered to help walk her out "just in case" she slipped again. While Erik couldn't offer any medical advice his laid back attitude and humor helped relax Lily's situation and through her tears she was able to laugh and smile as they walked out of the dog park together. As they parted ways Erik and Lily both felt remorse that they may never see each other again. Lily called her dad who it turns out could provide medical expertise due to his MD., and despite giving her medical advice the best advice he gave her that day was "why didn't you get his number?"

Now if you're reading this you know that this was not the last time Lily and Erik would see each other, but rather the first time. As the weeks passed the two continued to run into each other at the dog park. They spent hours walking together as slowly as possible making each trip longer and longer. To Lily's friends Erik's name was "Scrubs." To Erik's friends Lily's name was "Cute dog park girl." Despite the obvious chemistry Erik was hesitant to ask Lily out because the dog park was a sacred place and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. However fate and his older brother had something to say about this. Fate continued to push them together, and Erik's brother was a bit more blunt about the whole situation, telling Erik after one dog park meeting "She wanted you to ask her out there, you are dumb." These wise words struck a cord with Erik who finally mustered the courage to ask her out despite wearing acid washed purple jeans and p-coat. To his surprise she said yes, and just over two years later, at the same spot, Erik Asked her to marry him and this time to no-ones surprise she said yes.

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