Dawn and Chris met in the fall of 1985. They were just 15, and lived nearly 100 miles apart. How could they have ever met? It was really by chance as Monte (Chris' Dad), went to the Viola Horse and Colt Show (his old stomping grounds). There, he ran into Sandi Clark and struck up a conversation. They had gone to high school together (Sandi 3 years younger), both of them recently divorced, and they started dating. Chris remembers the next morning when Monte mentioned Sandi, and he said "and she's got a very beautiful daughter". It wasn't until a couple weeks later that Dawn and Sandi came to visit, and Chris was smitten with this beautiful angel. However, Chris, being a bashful, meek young boy knew this beauty was way out of his league. Dawn, saw nothing in Chris, but Chris couldn't forget her. He visited her a couple times when he was in the Viola area at his Grandparents farm near Bloom City, but still meek, shy, and afraid of girls, nothing ever came of it.

Dawn had a few long term relationships that taught her a lot about what she wanted in a partner. Chris got married at 23, and raised 2 beautiful daughters, but after 24 years realized the marriage was not healthy for either of them, and separated, then divorced.

That's when this story really kicks into gear. Chris knew there was one girl he needed to reach out to before he went any further down a different path. Chris reached out to Sandi to ask about Dawn. Was she married, children, or a boyfriend? He never heard back. So, he wrote another letter, and left a voice mail. Again, nothing. 20 years in sales, and never giving up meant Chris now had the tenacity to never take "no response" as a "no way". So, in November of 2018, Chris paid a visit to Dawn's place of work with flowers and another note. He was able to finally reach her, but it definitely wasn't the warm welcome he hoped for. He did finally reach her, but the answer was pretty much..."no thanks, I'm not dating any more". Her last long term relationship broke her heart, and wasn't ready to put her heart on the line again. Well to many, that would be the end of the story, but to the persistent salesperson, THAT sounds like MAYBE! It took another couple of months of phone conversations, letters, and a phone recording of him playing guitar (Tesla-Love Song) to finally get Dawn to agree to a first date on December 31st, 2017 (New Years Eve). That night they went out to ring in the New Year. She invited her brother T.J. and his girlfriend Sara to ease her nerves (in case Chris was a real jerk), but it all went very well. There seemed to be chemistry right away.

After 1 year of long distance dating, Dawn and Chris decided to start a new life in Plover, WI. Dawn had to really take a leap of faith to leave her home in Viroqua, leave her job, and trust in Chris that everything would be okay. They both would tell you it hasn't been ALL rainbows and roses (although Chris brings flowers home regularly). However, they both would agree that it's been the best love ever. They both would say that God brought them together at a time they both needed to find true love. Patience, kindness, respect, selflessness, fairness, not being rude and keeping in mind that the other person's happiness is more important than your own happiness, brings them to their future commitment...Forever.