Theresa messaged Patrick on Catholic Match in January of 2024 with a simple “hi.” Having seen her profile several times and him liking it he replied back about the weather and her figure skating. Before they knew it they were messaging everyday and met about a couple weeks later for dinner. After there first date they knew they wanted see each other again. She was sick for there second date and had to cancel until the following week. He picked her up from figure skating practice at the old Janesville rink a place she had skated at for years. Something that has been a love of hers for over 25 years is figure skating. About 4 dates in at Flannelfest in Janesville they knew they wanted to make it Facebook official. She wanted him to meet her parents and her about 6 month old cavapoo dog named “Lillianna” in the driveway. He was not a dog person until he met her. She had just gotten fixed over a week before and wrapped her leash around him. Then he was in love with her too.

About April she came to Madison for the doll show as she was a vendor for it and they had the most romantic date yet. There was a raffle at the doll show for a doll and he won one for her. They went to dinner and to see a movie called “Someone Like You.” After that they went to the flight of lights in Madison and loved seeing the lights together in his vehicle at the Madison Airport. In the same month Lillianna had fallen asleep in his lap and that is when he officially had decided that he was going to verbally declare himself as her dog dad.

By August they knew they were ready for the next steps in there relationship after having talked about them prior and him going the National Eucharistic Conference in July, as he was away for a week. He met her sister Sami, a doctoral student candidate of musicology at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. By fall after months of debating on where to settle down to be closer to her he decided on moving to Stoughton from Madison, to be almost halfway between his work in Madison and her place in Janesville. As well as where they wanted to settle down in life. In November, his first weekend moving into his new place in Stoughton, he took her to see Christian Contemporary artist Jeremy Camp in Madison and the concert helped heal her.

They spent there first Christmas with her family around New Years. Then met his parents for the first time of what would be many more to come in Rockford the first part of the year. As they had many health issues the year prior.

By the time of the NFL Draft in April in Green Bay he already knew what he wanted next in the relationship and had picked out the ring already that week before going to the draft. While they were waiting in line to look at the replica super bowl rings for all the super bowls he said if there favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, had picked the quarterback in the first round the day prior and he had the ring on him he would have proposed to her.

They went to a wedding in her family in June and her parents gave him there permission to marry her. In August they were camping in Bellevue Iowa, at there seasonal site he had camped at with them many times prior, the weekend of his second year going to the Lampe family reunion in Princeton Iowa. While talking with her aunts the topic of popping the question came up, with her at his side, at the time not knowing what would soon transpire. The day after they wanted to go to Crystal Lake Cave south of Dubuque Iowa and they both loved seeing all the different Crystals. They were beautiful and amazing. Later that afternoon, he was insistent of getting photos outside. As they had done a year prior. After having gotten pictures of everyone else it was finally just Patrick and Theresa’s time. That is when he got down on one knee and surprised everyone popping the question. The answer was yes. The forever candles at the reception represent the fire and ice of our relationship. It’s the flame that will last forever between them.

#SuttonlyForever