August 20th, 2019: The first day that they met was after one of Shannon’s sand volleyball games. Shannon showed up to Mike’s house, hugged him, chatted for a couple of minutes and then asked if she could jump into his shower… She asked if she could shower at the house of a complete stranger! She had packed an entire backpack of clothes to change into, she must have known they would be inseparable from that point forward.

Mike & Shannon never remember any first date jitters or any first date awkwardness. They don’t even remember their first kiss. It was natural from the moment they met. They felt as if they had known each other for years. The comfort of a best friend, a confidant, and a partner came instantaneously. Shannon does however remember a late night river walk where Michael slipped and said “I lov….”  He stopped himself, knowing that it may be way too soon for Shannon to hear that. They enjoyed a nice 5 am sun rise that night after talking the entire night and Shannon spent the next few days going back and forth from La Crosse to Winona.

August 31st, 2019: Shannon & Michael took a road trip together up to the Minneapolis. Shannon helped Mike pick out and go through the whole process of buying a new truck. Then they went to the State Fair, where Mike met Shannon’s best friend, Nate. He approved. Shannon then invited Michael, the very next day, up to her family’s lake-house. Little did he know he was meeting her mother, her sister, and her grandpa. They took a late night walk and Mike busted out the L word, for real this time, as they were laying on the tennis court under the stars.

September 17th, 2019: Shannon surprised Mike by taking him for a bluff hike and bringing her hammock along. Mike & Shannon swayed in the hammock and Shannon surprised Mike by saying “I love you” with a list of 116 things she loved about him.

Needless to say, their relationship moved quite fast. Within a month of knowing each other, they had met each other’s families, said the L word, taken numerous road trips, helped each other with big life purchases, were each other’s wedding dates, and they were practically moved into together at Mike’s house.

Their life is sure is busy, living and working in Winona, MN and La Crosse, WI surrounded by Mike’s family and their friends but bopping around to Minneapolis, Rochester, Madison (where Shannon went to college), Hancock (Shannon’s family’s lake-house), and Milwaukee (Shannon’s home town). It’s chaos but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Since then, they have gone on two huge road trips across the country, acquired their family’s boats and lived on the Mississippi River in summertime, managed to cohabitate along with their basset hound (Maynard), supported each other through major surgeries, became each other’s family, and still say I love you each and every day.

Mike has learned how to hike (and still hates it),how to boil noodles (still not his strong suit), how to bustle Shannon’s friends wedding dresses (that skill will come in handy!), and the true obsession that a person can have with fireworks and Christmas lights (aka Shannon). Shannon has learned how to 3D print and laser cut (with some help from Mike still), back up a boat (poorly), what RC stands for, and understands the true definition of a hobbyist more than ever (aka Mike). And they have both learned that their love for each other continues to grow.

November 26th, 2021: After learning of Shannon’s obsession with fireworks, Mike conjured up a plan with Shannon’s family for over a month on how to surprise her on Thanksgiving Day with huge fireworks and the proposal of a life time. Yes was already implied from Shannon so she failed to say it after he popped the question. But she indeed SAY YES!

They’ve been to more weddings than they can count and they cannot wait to finally be marrying each other. Their friends and their families are such big parts of their lives and this day has been a long time coming! Let’s party!

~Shannon Heeley