A picture started this love story. A picture and a desire for some company that was easy, uncomplicated and far enough apart to not be bothersome but close enough that we could get together to play in a few hours.
We started by chatting via webcam to talking on the phone for hours. We talked so much that Todd changed cell phone companies so we could talk for free. It was not unusual for us to rack up between 3-5000 minutes a month talking on the phone. We would watch football all day together on a Sunday.

Todd was so patient with me. He knew that I had my Father's sister that I cared for every day and that she was very sick. Through all of those hospitalizations he was understanding that in the beginning all I had was maybe a weekend a month that I could get away to see him. He hung in there and learned to understand why I was so devoted to Auntie Dot. Once he met her he learned to love her and she was just as fond of him.

As things got bad with her health he came up every weekend to be with me and to help her with everything she needed. She would write him a list of chores for when he came up and he did them all. We even redecorated her bedroom for her while she was in the hospital. It made her so happy and cheered her up to see how we brightened up her room.

We have both been through a lot relationship wise. I had a horrifyingly bad first marriage and Todd was divorced young and then widowed. Neither of us was looking for love and strangely enough by not looking we found the love of our lives.

We are getting married at the upper Cabana of our complex. Having the event catered in local seafood it is going to be a small intimate affair shared with people we love and who have watched our very special love story unfold over the past few years. We have chosen and August wedding for 2 reasons. It is tradition in Gwen's family to marry in August. Her grandparents were married August 3rd, Her Parents on August 5th and in fact will be celebrating 50 years of marriage in 2009. Her Sister Jannett and Brother in law Tyrone were married August 31st and will be celebrating 24 years of marriage and Sister Barbara Jean chose August 21st. We met on August 18,2006 so it just seemed right for us to continue the family tradition.

This is .going to be a very casual wedding. Dress comfortably like you would for a summer garden party. Decor is going to be kind of New England meets the Pacific Northwest in celebration of both of our roots. Seafood being a staple of both of our cultures with a little of Jamaica thrown in to celebrate our honeymoon destination.

We are 10 miles from Seattle/Tacoma airport and are arranging hotels near where we live. We understand that we will be having a great deal of our guest come from out of State and promise to pick at least one hotel nearby for every budget.

There are so many people who have watched us fall in love and build this beautiful life we have together. We knew from our first kiss that we had finally found what we have been looking for our entire lives. This love may have come later in life but we intend to have 50 years of love and laughter together. From riding together on the motorcycle to side by side motorized scooters it is going to be Todd and Gwen and our dogs going down the road together.