Beverly
In the beginning…
So, you want to know how Beverly and I fell in love? Well, at first we tried not to. I first met her a day or so before classes started in the fall of 2003 at the first official Ultimate practice of the fall. She was one of the many new freshman, and I don’t remember her standing out other than the fact that she was one of less than five girls amongst thirty guys. Later that afternoon Alpha (formerly Crossroads) was having a cookout outreach, and so I headed over there to grab some free food and hang out with my friends there. Meanwhile, Beverly and a couple other new freshman were headed to the Commons to find some food, and they saw a big sign saying “FREE FOOD.” Naturally, they followed. But they found themselves sitting in a dark corner under the steps in the Cabaret listening to the live entertainment, but didn’t go through the other doors to outside where most of the people and food were. Since I recognized them as new freshmeat (I recognized at least two of them, as Beverly dragged them out to Ultimate practice that day), I sat down with them and struck up a conversation to try and get them involved with Crossroads, or another campus ministry. Some time in that conversation Beverly gave me her contact info (AIM screenname, extension, room number and cell phone number) on a piece of green paper that was once a flier for the Alpha group. (I know this much detail about it because I still have that piece of paper)
Over the next few weeks I found myself hanging out with her often. We’d meet to go to dinner at the dining hall, Intervarsity, and Ultimate. It was fun to hang out with her, but I had no intention of liking her. She was a freshman, and I was a senior! I only wanted to encourage her to get involved with some campus groups and to have fun. I couldn’t help that she was so much fun to be around all the time.
Towards the end of the month Hurricane Isabel came to town. The evening it hit us Beverly came up to my apartment to do some studying and hang out. Throughout the course of the evening the power went out for a bit, we played a game (Scrabble?) by flashlight, and I asked her what she thought about us dating each other and where she saw us going with our friendship. I’m sure I stumbled over my words plenty, but somehow in the end we were “officially” dating.
As the days go by…
As time has gone on we’ve had good days, bad days, amazing days, and some downright awful days together, as well as way too many apart. I find myself loving her more and more every day, and am past the point of being able to comprehend how much love she has for me (that point was a long time ago, even if she didn’t realize it), or how much love I have for her (that point wasn’t as long ago, but I can’t put a date on it other than the latter half of 2005).
Beverly and I after the EARL tournament, October 2005. Photo taken by Sarah “Bullet” Mostellar.
She said yes
On July 29th, 2006 Beverly and I took a day and went to the beach to hang out for the day. Although we’d already been once with her family, I thought it’d be a really fun day to just hang out with her, especially since every other weekend in the summer we were doing things with other people. So, we packed up the boogie boards, some drinks and sandwiches, sunscreen, towels, my camera, and headed to Ocean City. We got down there around 3pm (no hurry, and why be out there in the super hot part of the day when I get burnt really easily), and found a spot around 115th st or so (probably the wrong street, but who’s counting). We hung out, went boogie boarding, body boarding, played some cards, and generally relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
After eating our sandwiches, we packed things up and headed back to the car to put stuff away, and then go for a walk along the beach. I grabbed my camera as I love taking pictures near sunset because of the rich colors. We set out walking North, enjoying watching people and all the sandcastles. We were having a great time just enjoying a walk along the beach. Then I suggested I use my tripod and remote shutter release to take a picture of us. So, we found a spot the sun was still shining between the buildings and there weren’t tons of people around us to run into the picture. I set up the tripod and camera, and took a couple test shots to make sure it was working ok.
When I was ready to take the actual picture, I got down on one knee and pulled out the ring I had hidden in the pouch for the remote shutter release button. Rather than say something poetic, I blurted out “will you marry me.” (Oh well, smoothe one Jeremy) Beverly immediately looked shocked, quietly said “yes”, and started to cry. Then she asked if I was serious as she was completely surpised by my asking, and I assured her I was, and slipped the ring on her finger.
As I mentioned that I was setting the camera up to take a couple picture of us, I did manage to have the camera take a picture of me proposing at the exact right moment. Although it was trying to focus on the waves behind us, it was close enough in focus for a decent picture, and so below is the picture of me proposing to Beverly.
Jeremy proposing to Beverly. July 29, 2006. Jeremy used a remote shutter release (right hand) to take the picture.
Engagement
We took almost exactly one year to plan before getting married on July 28, 2007 at Annapolis EP Church. The year of being engaged was both more enjoyable than dating, and yet more stressful as we also had many items to decide on, as well as changes in our living situations, Beverly graduating from UMBC and finding a real job, and Jeremy traveling with work a fair amount.
Marriage
As of July 28, 2007 we are officially married. So far it’s been great and we’ve enjoyed spending even more time together. We’re now both working in the Columbia area, and living just north of Columbia’s borders. Since we are renting from good friends of ours, the next step will probably be a house of our own, but we’ll start getting serious about that in 2008.
Please give us a call or IM, we’d love to hang out with all our friends (this means you!). Without a wedding to plan, our lives are now not as stressed, or as full so we actually do have some time to hang out.