Reva & J.R. - Reva's Story (Photo)

Categories: Dating, Pen Pals, Friends: Success Stories
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Submitted by: Nannette | View Member Profile | View Other Posts
Created: 4/20/2003

Come Grow Old With Me

On March 10, 2003 at 2:00 p.m., I calmly sat in the waiting area of the Ryan Metropolitan Airport in Baton Rouge. After five months of waiting, I was meeting for the first time, J.R. - the man I had fallen in love and engaged through emails and phone calls. I had been counting the days 'til his arrival. The amazing thing was, I wasn't a bit nervous. I had prayed all those months for God to guide me in my decision. An artist who paints on real canvass, J.R. also paints beautiful pictures with his words. In his email last November, he talked about a yellow tree that had shed its leaves. This was the beginning of my fascination with him. He wrote:

"The sky was deep blue and the sun was shining bright and casting dark crisp shadows upon the ground. Oh, and did I ever see the most gorgeous yellow tree today. I pulled over and just let the moment fill my thoughts. All beneath the huge yellow tree was what seemed to be a sea of yellow. And all of a sudden, a red cardinal flew right in the midst of all those yellow leaves. What a contrast of colors. It's always been the little things that catch my attention, like the rays of the sun shining through a window or a door, or the sound of water as it is babbling over the rocks, the fog at early morning, and there's no way I can leave out all those inspiring stars in the heavens. I love to sit on the deck and look up into the night sky and talk to Jesus."

J.R.'s real name is Irlant E. Moore, Jr. He's from Princeton, West VA. He loves humor so I wrote him about my first time in America. I arrived in March (1969) in Memphis and thought the trees were dead because there were no leaves on them. This was when he talked about the yellow tree.

JR had been a member of the site for two and a half years. I joined 6 months ago after the prodding of my sister Sally. After my husband's death, I'd been praying that if God has someone for me, he'd be a "special man." Someone whobelongs in my church and who places God as number one in his life. I didn't know that somewhere in the foothills of West Virginia, J.R. was praying a similar prayer for many years.

On the night of his trip to Baton Rouge, J.R. had called from the Marriott Inn in Roanoke. He said he'd be wearing a tan jacket and brown pants. A few weeks earlier, he had joked many times about wearing camouflage so I wouldn't be able to pick him from the arriving crowd. He talked about wearing an eye patch or a wooden leg. He's such a joker of a person. We laughed on the phone each night as the day of our first meeting approached. That night at the Marriott, he seemed serious when he told me about wearing a tan jacket. So, as I waited, I watched for men with tan jackets. I saw tan jackets but wrong color of pants and wrong faces. But, there was no J.R. In fact there were no more passengers coming through. Then instantly, I saw a tall man in a dark suit with a bundle of red roses in his arms. It was J.R. He looked better than his picture, I thought. He saw me, too, and had that "Could this be Reva?" look. We both were smiling by the time he reached me. "Where is the tan jacket?" was all I could say. Then the long awaited hugs followed.

Similar to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" story

Last March 16, in front of my huge family, JR formally proposed to me. He had emailed my sister Sally about his plan two nights earlier. After a grand dinner of Filipino and American dishes prepared by my siblings, everyone found his/her seat in the den. I stood with J.R. by the fireplace while 24 sets of eyes watched. Sally called for a toast for us. Then she gave me an old treasure box. Inside it was a heart-shaped, red bottle with this inscription: Timeless Message. Inside the bottle was a poem. I was asked to read it. I could tell J.R. had written it. I read the first line and tears started rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't continue reading so I asked Sally to read it for me. She, too, was moved by the moment that her voice started to crack. Here's the poem inside the bottle:

Reva, My Love

Long ago, I sent a prayer sailing toward the heavens,
asking God for someone special, a "special love" for me.
For many years, I thought the prayer was forever sealed
in a timeless bottle and just adrift upon the vast sea.
But then one day, God saw fit in His Divine Providence,
that the prayer I set a sail, should wash ashore.
And be found by another, who was also sending prayers
to God in heaven for a "special love,"
for someone to love forever more.
And so it was, that God blessed and joined together,
Two prayers for a "special love" as such was in the Garden of Eden.
Thus, was the beginning of God writing and scripting
the heavenly "love story" of J.R. and Reva (Eveeden).
And so my love Reva, with that being said, I,
J.R.......

After which, J.R., on bended knee, proposed to me. Then he had the song of Mary Chapin Carpenter, "Come Grow Old With Me" played for me. Thoughts of an awesome God Who had sent this wonderful man filled my mind while tears rolled down my cheeks. For almost four years, my world had been turned upside down due to the death of my husband Edwin. The first two years were the toughest. Many times I had come home to an empty house on dark and cold winter nights. I let out a wail after I close the kitchen door. "Why did You allow this to happen to me, God? Why did You allow my husband to die?" And now here's J.R. who had sent me over a hundred of the most wonderful "love" emails during the past 5 months. My ugly world has started to look beautiful again.

Our wedding day is on June 7, 2003.