I have been stressing over this blog entry.
The entire heart of Images for a Cure is from women like Jessica. An avid supporter of Breast Cancer research and awareness, Jessica’s family has been affected by the disease for generations. It has never hindered her, but made her passionate and willfull to find a cure. I owe a lot of the success of the event to her, for her own silent battles, and for motivating me to be a better person.
I can say, with the most confidence, that no one knows Jessica and Tim quite like I do.
I met Jessica in college, when she pledged Kappa Delta. We became fast, and close, friends. We just always seemed to get each other, and I knew from the moment I met her that she had the most amazing heart. We went through a lot together; our first apartment, sharing stories of boyfriends and horrible first (and last) dates, my 2 crazy cats, failed relationships (mostly mine), scary medical hallucinations (lol), the death of a friend and her parent’s divorce. She was always there for me in those hard times, and for that, I’m beyond grateful. Her friendship meant the world to me, and for whatever reason, we found ourselves on 2 different paths and slowly grew apart.
I met Tim the year after I met Jessica. He was a new freshman, and I was a senior in college. I wouldn’t say we were fast friends, but he ultimately won me over with his goofiness. We spent late nights rounding up Heidi and Acurry for a challenging round of Chicken Foot, and spending weekends at the beach (Heidi, Tim and I shared a car. Heidi from Mass., me from Ohio and Tim from New Hampshire were elated to find a “beach” right off the Causeway. The car carrying all the Florida girls laughed as they realized we weren’t actually at Clearwater Beach, but at some crazy gravel pit near the water where we watched a mass-baptism. We didn’t care.) Actually, most of my good stories of Tim involve bikini tops and high heels (which, um, Tim – I found the bikini top picture! I won’t post it…yet). But I won’t share those, so he can have a little dignity left on my blog.
I can’t remember the exact moment that I introduced Jess and Tim. I think Tim told me he thought she was cute, and I wasn’t wanting to get involved (having just set Jessica up with another friend over the summer, that became a massive failure – I wouldn’t be held responsible for this one, too). I think it wasn’t until a little break when I was going home with Jessica for Easter that we invited Tim to come, too. We spent the weekend on the boat, eating pancakes and enjoying Southern Florida. Whatever happened, worked – and Jessica and Tim have spent the majority of the last 6 years together.
I don’t know that I would have initially put them together – although they have always seemed to be a great compliment to each other. Tim is grounded, a financial guru and practical – but with this funny kid-like demeanor and good spirit. Jessica, traditional but a dreamer, brings him back to earth. She’s managed to bring out the romantic side of him, though – which has been quite impressive for us on-lookers. He proposed at his family’s cabin in Maine, on the beach with chocolate covered strawberries flown in from San Francisco and champagne.
One thing I’ll always have faith in, is that no matter their paths, they will always find each other’s hearts. Some people just belong together, and it has been a privledge watching their love grow and blossom over the last 6 years together. I love them both, no matter how far apart we are, and I hope they remember that :)
They drove all the way out to Oviedo from their home in St. Pete to spend some time with me. They were even interviewed by In Motion Video Productions for our documentary and Jillian Caro did Jessica’s makeup, her time donated as part of her Images for a Cure sponsorship.
And because I couldn’t write this without showing some of our best moments….
Ok, so now, on to their engagement pictures!!
