On February 9, 1996, Mark Franceschina pulled into the Racine, Wisconsin McDonald's, intending to go through the drive-thru and be on his way. But a long line prompted him to park his car and go inside.

Once in line inside, he turned to the woman beside him in line, and, as he told WDJT:

She said 'Hi' to me and she smiled and when she smiled, I was like, 'Man, wow. she's beautiful, no, I mean I was like stricken man. She was beautiful.

And that was it.

The two ordered, got their food, and left to go on their merry way when Mark says,

I stopped and looked back at her and as she got to her car, she stopped and turned back at me. I was like 'Well it's a done deal I have got to go after her now. I got to chase her down!'

And that's just what he did! He followed her to a nearby carwash where they both pulled over and he wrote his number on a notepad, which Cindi still has.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Every February 9th for the past 27 years the couple has been meeting at the same McDonald's to commemorate the anniversary of their chance encounter that led to 24 years of marriage, 3 children, and 2 grandchildren.

Cindi told WDJT:

We just never said anything to each other, we just always showed up, at noon, at this McDonald's. There were years I was like 'Oh he better show up, if he forgets, but we never have, without fail, we never have we've both always showed up and had lunch without reminding each other of anything.

This year, the McDonald's location wanted to do something special for the couple's annual tradition. They set a special table for them, complete with a red tablecloth and 27 red roses.

Mark said that although they've had their struggles over the past 27 years,

I wouldn't trade any of it. We were blessed. It's been wonderful.