Our Story

Rhock & Ralph met the old fashioned way, face-to-face, in a bar! Matilda in Chicago is named after a ghost thought to inhabit the establishment for over 20 years. After love-at-first-sight, we realized we both spoke spanish, loved snakes, had a quirky sense of style, and both recently divorced, each with teens the same age. Ralph is a business operations pro who works in science and Rhock is a scientist who provides business support biotech companies. After a rousing poll of everyone in the bar to determine which of the two had the "best phone number" and they were tied, we knew there was more to explore.

Ralph comes from a family of 11 siblings! Fred, Mary, Anita, Rachel, Frank, Mike, Jude, Jerry, Chuck and Justin. They live all over the country and their mother, Marge lives in Indiana and winters in Florida. Rhock’s only sibling, Jill lives in Boston with her hubby, Erik and their daughter, Althea. Their son, Maceo lives near us in Chicago. Rhock’s parents are Roger and Marylyn, and Erik’s parents and brother are Tom, Margit and Jeff. Rhock and Ralph have met and loved one another’s siblings and our kids Kai and Lena, and Adam and Francesca will soon have two new step sibs! We’re so excited for the extended families to meet each other and all our community. Don’t be shy – introduce yourselves!

We began to feel like life partners and when we knew it was true, we asked our families if they felt happy about our getting engaged...

...They said, "We do!" and e will formally wed in a small backyard Baha’i pandemic-style micromony with the kids. However, we were eager for the end of the pandemic and the opportunity to exchange our vows and wedding rings in the presence of the rest of our family and friends....