This Friday night in Lohja, Finland, on January 4th, I reached a milestone turning point in my personal life … I proposed to my sweetheart Diana after my wrestling match.  She is the first and only woman that I have ever proposed to, as I have never had that certainty with any single girl in any of my past relationships.  This girl and scenario was a no-brainer for me, I just “knew” that she was “the one”.  Yes, now finally, I understood the intangible element of finding the love of a lifetime.  It’s a mutual knowledge, an internal peace and consciousness that you both share.

I have lived in Finland for 16,5 years, and in this time, I have never encountered a girl worth going to the distance with.  On a very personal note, I felt that Finland was never the most fertile ground for a man like me in the pursuit of romance.  After all, I am a redneck SOB.  I’m like a Texan who was born in Canada and then estranged to Finland.  I make no qualms about that.  I have no shame in admitting the fact that I am like a cross between a ’50s male and a Neanderthal Man.  I am like a motorcyclist outlaw without the vices of drugs and booze, or the wayward lifestyle, or the criminal activities that hang around like a bad shadow.  StarBuck is an anomaly to many, a hard man to figure out.

My own mother said about 15 years ago, that she felt that my wife would not end up being Finnish.  I tried regardless, however … and boy, did I ever try.  I tried making the best out of every situation and relationship, but the fact is, that I am cut out of a different cloth than the modern Scandinavian and Finnish man.  I “didn’t belong”, and I accepted that fact for years.  At times, I thought that I actually found a Finnish lass who understood a man like myself, but I wrongly assessed those attempts and relationships.  A tiger, after all, cannot change its stripes.  Water seeks its own level, and you cannot fool yourself.  It’s the proverbial heart that beats underneath the floorboards.

A lady named Irma that I know out of Jyväskylä, Finland introduced me to my new fiance this past year.  Irma happened to be in Romania, doing volunteer work to help stray animals, and in her work she became friends with a Romanian girl named Diana.  Irma felt that Diana would be a perfect fit for a man like me and I would be a perfect fit for a girl like her.  Irma was right, she showed my online photos to Diana, and that is when God’s divine plan stepped into fruition.  Diana approached me, and the rest, as they say, is history.

After I pinned Ricky Vendetta in a physical, violent encounter last night, I took the mic and asked my girl to come to the ring from out of the audience.  The accompanying photos tell the story.  Thanks to photographer superb, Marko Simonen, for these shots.  I’ve also included some of Marko’s shots from my match.  Enjoy!