Rasheed was just a customer who would come in regularly. Hannah did not think much of it, because there were lots of regulars that she would see on a daily basis. However, Rasheed and his dad were some of her favorites because his dad would make her laugh and Rasheed would ask Hannah questions about herself every time they saw each other. It was very sweet, but again, she did not think much of it.

One Friday morning, Rasheed comes in. Neither of them usually came in on Fridays, so neither of them expected the other to be there. Although Rasheed was usually with his dad, this time he was alone. In an effort to be more sociable with her regulars, Hannah tried something new. When he got in her coworker Cari's line, she said, "Hey, I know you." To that, he smiled and said, "Oh, yeah?" He came for a to-go order, and the to-go station happened to be next to the register she was working at. His food wasn't ready yet, and she had just helped the last customer in her line. Here is how it happened:

Rasheed: (standing at the to-go station)

Hannah: Hi.

Rasheed: (just trying to start a conversation) So, do you live around here?

Hannah: (confused) Um, yeah. I work here.

Rasheed: Would you like to play pool sometime?

Hannah: (blinking really fast, knowing for a FACT that he wasn't just asking to play pool) Well, I don't really like pool.

Rasheed: Well, you have to like coffee.

Hannah: (still panicking on the inside) Actually, I don't like coffee, but I like tea.

Rasheed: (completely missing the "but I like tea" part)

Neither of them really remembered what happened, but somehow she got his number. He then proceeds to walk away with his food, but she calls out, "Hey, don't you want my number?" He then says, "Oh, yeah," and comes walking back. She took a bit of register paper, her coworker, Cari, discreetly handed her a pen, and she wrote down her number and gave it to him. She then proceeded to freak out for weeks.

He texted her that night, and they have been texting every day since.

Our first date was at Braum's. Hannah knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to eat anything at all because she was so nervous. She even asked her Mom if it would be rude to not get anything, to which her Mom said that yes, it would be rude and that she should at least get something. Her friends and her dad offered to go sit in the restaurant near them, but she didn't think she would want it right then. But on the day of, her mom jokingly offered to go with her and sit somewhere else to keep an eye on them, to which Hannah accepted. It would make her feel safer. So that is what happened.

Hannah and Rasheed met at Braum's. She got a chocolate milkshake and he got a chicken dinner. They found a place to sit and her mother sat a couple of tables away. He did most of the talking, telling her all kinds of stories. But one distinct moment that they both remember is her mentioning that her dad offered to come with her on the date and sit nearby. He asked if he was there, to which she said no. He did not ask about if her mom was there!

After a few hours, her mom left. They proceeded to sit there and chat until they were kicked out. She did not feel comfortable enough with him to hug him, but he understood and respected her boundary. They both agreed that they enjoyed their time together and that they wouldn't mind having another date sometime. As soon as she got back in her car, she called her mother to let her know how it went. She found out that her older brother was ready to come down to Braum's and look for her since it was after 11pm and Braum's closed at 11pm. Fun times.

Engagement
First of all, we have been dating for 2 years (June 23, 2025 was our 2 year anniversary). Father’s Day was coming up the week before our 2 year anniversary, so I decided to talk to Hannah’s dad during the week to see about coming over on that Saturday to ask for his blessing. I didn’t tell him I was going to ask for his blessing yet. But he was all good with me coming over that Saturday and so that was the plan. I thought he knew or had some idea on why I was coming over to visit, but I guess he didn’t know. Saturday came around and I rolled up to his house and I was like ahh crap because Hannah’s brother, Sam was at the house as well. It was me, her dad, and brother and we were in the living room watching the TV and so I wanted to get their dad one on one and so I mentioned something about the backyard that we talked about before to try to get him to go outside, but that didn’t work. So, I waited a bit and asked about something about a spot for a key in the Kia cars because he told me about that a while back. So I asked him if he could show me where it might be at on my Kia. On our way outside, I told the brother that we will be right back so maybe it would keep him from coming out and it did. When we got outside, I told the real reason I took him outside and he seemed pretty happy about that and didn’t hesitate in saying yes to the blessing. Later on, Hannah got off work and so I went over to her house and I found out that Hannah was informed that I was at her dad’s house, which might have been suspicious to her. 
Some other weekend when Hannah was at work, I went over to her moms house and it was only the two of us there and while sitting there on the couch, she offered me a glass of water or something and I said sure. Then she sat down and was just wondering if there was anything I wanted to talk about and I said, well, actually yes. And so I asked her for her blessing right there and it went well. Hannah was getting off work soon and so I left just so nothing would be suspicious. 
I had the blessing from both her mom and her dad, which was a good start. So, I knew it was time for me to get a ring. Now the process was somewhat easier for me because a year ago (July 2024) she sent me a picture of a ring she likes, which was a pear shaped diamond with a halo around it in a yellow gold ring. There was also some point where me and her were at the mall just walking around and we were passing some random jewelry store and she liked the flashy jewelry and so we stopped in just to look around. I told the associate about a pear diamond and she got a couple rings for us to look at and I was taking notes in my head since one of the rings had an infinity on it and she said she really liked that or something. I didn't want to just go to any random store and just buy a ring just to have a ring to propose. I really did take my time and did a lot of research into what to look for in a diamond, along with going to several different stores to get quotes on diamonds itself and the custom ring.



During the whole process of reviewing the ring and getting it made, I was also planning out how I would go about proposing to Hannah. I knew I wanted to propose to her at the Illuvia light water show afterwards along the walking trail. So, I got a hold of some friends and we roughly planned it all out. Here is how the proposal actually went. First, it was some Friday evening and I knew Hannah has been wanting to go to 85C Bakery and Illuvia and we were “gonna go” to 85c Bakery, but it was close to them closing on that Friday night (the ring wasn’t going to be ready for me to pick up until Saturday), so I was alright with that and I suggested that we go look at a gym that night instead of 85C bakery since it was something else on our radar to do. So, it’s Saturday and I called Hannah up because she called me and I didn’t pick up in time. We talked and I asked her if she would still like to go to Illuvia, and we could go that night (hoping she would say yes and not be tired after work). She did say yes and I also suggested that we go to 85C Bakery since it is just minutes away from Illuvia, and she was alright with going there beforehand as well. So the plan was for me and Hannah to go to 85C Bakery and then to Illuvia and for me to propose to her after the water/light show and when we are walking around the trail along the water. Anyways, later on in the day Hannah sends me a text asking if it would be alright if her mom and her mom’s friend went with us that night. And I was like ahh crap. So I immediately sent her mom a text saying “Has Hannah already asked if you and Brian would like to go to 85C Bakery with us today?” Her mom replied with “No. She told me that y'all were going and then to Illuvia.” (I told her mom a while back that I was going to propose at Illuvia). As I am typing a lengthy text message, her mom sends a “?” Because I think she may know what’s up. This was my lengthy text: “I'm sure you already know what time it is... She was asking if it would be alright if we invite you and Brian along to 85c Bakery because Brian hasn't been. I would be okay with that, if you and Brian come to 85c Bakery with us, but in separate cars so that me and her could go to Illuvia afterwards. Maybe you can tell her that you and Brian are gonna do something different or watch a movie or something after 85c bakery?..... I don't mind if y'all go to the bakery with us, but if she asks y'all to come to Illuvia, tell her y'all have plans tonight because I have something to ask her and I want to be alone with her.

PS: I'm sure you know, but please don't tell her I said any of this”


I picked up the ring on that Saturday and let me just tell you, that thing is absolutely stunning and was so nice to look at. I thought the box was going to be huge or something, but it was actually smaller than I thought. I was just worried because I didn’t want her to see some giant thing in my pocket, which would make her suspicious. So, to try and remove any suspicion, I wore my sweat pants as usual and I put the ring box in my cargo pant pocket thingy (I really tried not to let her be on my left side because that’s the side the ring was in). So, we show up to 85C Bakery in separate cars and we walk around, get whatever cool, delicious looking treats they have and we all go to checkout. Me and Hannah both got a drink as well though. And as we are all standing there waiting for the drinks, I happened to be standing behind Hannah and so she couldn’t see me. Hannah asked her mom and Brian if they were gonna go to Illuvia with us and her mom was able to see me and I was shaking my head with like a serious left to right for sure no.


The process took almost a month for the ring to be finally made because I describe to the jeweler what I want and how I want it, and he makes a CAD file rendering of the ring and shows me and if I want some changes, I let him know. And then he has to make another CAD rendering which takes time. This did happen once because he originally put only two prongs near the back of the pear diamond and a small v-tip on the pointy part of the diamond. I asked him to put 4 prongs and a slightly larger, sturdy v-tip and so he did that and sent it to me a few days later. After the approved renderings, he makes a 3D print of the exact CAD rendering for me to go in and take a look to see if I like the actual physical ring still. At some point, I wasn’t exactly sure on what size ring I should’ve had made and I was gauging based on Hannah putting her size 7 ring (I got her as a gift before) on her ring finger and it slid down easily. So, I was thinking of doing size 6.5 and I was asking the jeweler what his advice was, and he said he could just resize it a couple times for free. He also suggested that if I can somehow get her ring and take an above picture of the ring on top of a penny and a picture of the ring on top of a dime that would help him a lot. So, I very smoothly asked her for the ring some day at her house and I put it on my finger, just being silly and then she asked for it back, but I told her I’d give it back to her after I went to the restroom. Little did she know, I was taking those picture for the jeweler.

On June 15, 2022, I decided to review my AncestryDNA matches when I came across an unfamiliar match a second cousin named Sheila Seymour. While looking through Sheila’s tree, I noticed someone I believed to be her sister named Shelley. I looked up Shelley online and found her obituary. As I scanned through the list of survivors, one name stood out to me—Karen Lichtenstern. That last name sounded very familiar, like what I had heard from my mom and aunt when I asked them about my father. I remember they didn’t pronounce the name correctly, but “Lichtenstern” was close enough to trigger something in my memory.
I knew my father's first name was Bill, so I searched for “Bill Lichtenstern” and began my search for who I believed my father’s name was. Between June 16 and 21, I dove into intense research. I found several phone numbers that might have belonged to Bill or people close to him. I was nervous about making the calls and hoped my Uncle by marriage Chip who had become a father figure to me all these years could be with me for the phone calls. On June 23, after hanging out with Chip we discussed making the calls ,but I decided to just make the calls on my own because I knew I would be closer to answers. The first calls I made were clearly the wrong numbers. Most of the rest were disconnected or just rang endlessly. I was feeling discouraged until, finally, one call went through and Karen Lichtenstern answered. I was so relieved to hear a voice. I asked, “Is this Karen?” and she said yes. Then I asked, “Do you know Bill?” and she replied, “Yeah, is he okay?” I told her, “I’m his son,” and she was completely shocked.
Karen was understandably protective of Bill and didn’t immediately share much. She asked how I got her number and found out about Bill. I explained everything and how I’d been trying to find my dad and that is what led me to do the DNA test to try and find family from my dad’s side as my mom had passed away in 2014. I had many unanswered questions that could hopefully be answered. Karen said she would call Bill and then get back to me. She did call me back and confirmed that Bill is in the same area where I grew up. That night, we talked on the phone for an hour and shared a lot of stories. During our conversation, Karen told me I had a sister who’s the same age as me born just nine days after I was. That blew my mind. We discussed what my father did for a living and shared some traits of each other and family details. Overall, the conversation was amazing. Karen was so surprised and emotional when she realized I was her only grandson. She told me that the family had become all females and Bill was the last boy... and now, it turns out, I am the last boy. Which ultimately led me to change my last name Lichtenstern.