The legacy of the Chicago “Rat Hole” continues to grow, adding an engagement and wedding to its slew of tributes at the unofficial Roscoe Village landmark.
Minneapolis residents Molly Widstrom and Michael Obler met on X last summer and started dating shortly after. Following a brief period apart, they reconnected when they became neighbors.
The two had planned a trip to Chicago for the weekend with no firm plans, but that soon changed when they came across memes of the rat hole online.
On Saturday afternoon, Obler popped the question to Widstrom inches away from where an unknown creature once fell in the cement — Widstrom thinks it was a squirrel, not a rat. About three dozen bystanders applauded.
Minneapolis residents Molly Widstrom and Michael Obler came to Chicago with no firm plans. On Saturday, they decided to get engaged near the Chicago rat hole.
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The two had talked about getting married prior to the proposal and mutually decided that having engagement photos taken at the rat hole would be “absolutely hilarious,” though a “more traditional” proposal is planned for later.
“We know we’re gonna get married, we can have fun with a jokey engagement,” Obler said. “Why do people go to the Grand Canyon? It’s just something unique.”
Chicago’s iconic rat hole in the 1900 block of West Roscoe Street in Roscoe Village. On Friday, the rat hole was filled in with a plaster-type substance, but neighbors restored the hole.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Later Saturday, another couple were joined together at the landmark.
Raj Sarathy, a Roscoe Village resident, said he and his husband-to-be wanted to get married at an “iconic Chicago monument.”
When Sarathy found out about the rat hole and told his other half — another animal lover who he met two years ago at the Montrose Beach dog park — the two immediately agreed it was where they needed to hold their ceremony.
“At the end of the day it is just an imprint of a rat on the sidewalk, but I think there is so much more to it,” Sarathy said. “The rat hole is a legacy of Chicago.”
Sarathy, a 31-year-old dental student, reached out to Lica Sato-Keene, a wedding planner who specializes in unique events, and began planning just nine days before the already set date of the reception, which was held in the West Loop ahead of the 6 p.m. ceremony.
They lost the deposit from the original venue, and some commenters on the viral video reacted negatively, but Sarathy said he didn’t mind after getting married before a crowd of family, friends and strangers.
@realrajmahal My dream wedding at the Rat Hole ???? visit #liloentertainment for your wedding ballloons! #fyp #chicago #ratatouille
♬ original sound - Raj Mahal
Raj Sarathy, left, a dental student who lives in Roscoe Village, married his partner Saturday at the Chicago rat hole.
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“It just felt right,” Sarathy told the Sun-Times. “I didn’t really care what other people thought about it.”
This isn’t the end of the rat-themed activities for the couple either, as their honeymoon will be a series of trips taking them to some of the rattiest cities in the world. Sarathy said it’s both because he finds rats cute and thinks they have an undeserved bad reputation.
The couple’s vows had some rat hole references, but they’ve chosen to keep them to themselves. As for his wedding?
“It was the best day of my life, and it probably forever will be.”