Some love stories announce themselves with fireworks.

Ours began as a quiet sunrise  a gentle glow revealing something sacred, steady, and already written.

 

God’s providence. His perfect timing.

Like the sun rising over a story written long before we were born.

Not coincidence  but a love preordained.

His timing, our alignment an undeniable and inevitable destiny.

 

For years, our lives ran parallel.

We shared friends, familiar places, meaningful connections… even family ties.

Yet we hardly spoke unaware that God was already weaving our paths together, slowly, patiently, t

he way morning light eases across the horizon.

 

When Jen was rediscovering life’s rhythm, a dear mutual friend kept insisting she had “the perfect person”

for each of us to meet.

For nearly a year, the suggestion returned again and again yet neither of us

realized she was talking about someone we already knew.

 

Finally, one day, Lu asked to see a picture. And everything shifted.

 

“Wait… she’s single?”

A little surprise.

A little wonder.

And a quiet joy that seemed to whisper, “Pay attention.”

 

He held her number close for months until one evening, sitting at his twin goddaughters’ dance recital, he finally sent the message that would change everything:

 

“Can you keep a secret?”

 

We met for dinner in the small river town of Piermont  romantic and unassuming.

Jen walked in (fashionably late  a theme Lu now knows and loves), and by the end of the night, she kissed him.

Not just any kiss  the kind that makes the world fall completely still.

 

We soon discovered how deeply our lives had already been intertwined.

Her father a Hall of Fame football coach from Lu’s rival team, admired long before we ever imagined becoming family.

Her mother  a warm and familiar presence through the years, as Jen’s nephew and Lu’s son, Little Lu’, grew up best friends.

 

And in God’s perfect poetry, Lu’s mother who has loved Jen like a daughter from the moment she met her  has been our greatest cheerleader. She saw this love forming long before we dared to name it. Her blessing, her joy, and her gentle certainty became part of the foundation we stand on today.

 

Our love has held joy, laughter, resilience, healing, grace, and growth.

We have walked through shadows together and watched the light return each time  warmer, stronger, and more certain than before.

 

And we know there are loving eyes in Heaven smiling with us  proud, peaceful, and present  as we take this step forward.

 

And then came the day that sealed everything:

A quiet beach in the Dominican Republic.

A single palm shading us as the ocean breathed around us.

A conversation that opened the heart and let the soul rest.

That was the moment we both knew this was forever.

 

So now, with full hearts, we are returning to that same sacred place, beneath that same tree, surrounded by our beautiful  children and the people we love most, to say our vows and celebrate the love God wrote long before either of us knew how to read the signs.

 

With gratitude, grace, and love 

Jen & Lú

 

“Good times, tough times, and the precious moments in between  all we can say is thank you, God.

Your timing is always perfect.”