A Highland Park Love Story 60 Years in the Making

Jeff Mandel's and Susan Wyle Schreiber's whirlwind romance was actually sixty years in the making. Although simply acquaintances at Ravinia School and Edgewood Middle School, fifty years later they found their way back to each other and, as Susan calls it, began a "fairy tale romance" that could only be possible in middle age.

"Knowing what's important in a healthy, loving relationship came with time and work. I feel so blessed to have found a true partner...in everything.  I truly appreciate his goodness, his soul, his true inner-being.  Everything else is the icing on the cake."

While they grew up side by side, their lives took them in very different directions.  After graduating from American University in Washington, D.C., Jeff began a successful career in real estate, development and building that would take him all over the country, from Florida to South Carolina and California, where he spent most of his adult life.

Susan's career, however, kept her close to home.  In fact, she raised her two daughters in a home located mere blocks from the house she grew up in.  Tried-and-true Highland Parkers know that Susan's career mirrored Jeff's as she enjoyed a stellar reputation in real estate and as a successful spec and custom home builder.

In town for his 45th high school reunion, Jeff reconnected with a few of his Ravinia grade school buddies for dinner at City Park Grill.  Little did he know, but his future wife was having dinner with a girlfriend at the bar.

Having seen Susan across the restaurant, one of Jeff's friends brought him over to her to see if they remembered each other.  Susan remembered him immediately, as one of "the nicest guys" from grade school. Realizing they had much in common, they arranged to meet for coffee the next day before he left to go back to California.  After countless nights of Skyping and several cross-country trips, Jeff finally made the journey home to Highland Park, to begin a new chapter with the love of his life, his old acquaintance, Sue Wyle, from Ravinia School.

They married November 11, 2013 at the City Park Grill in Highland Park.