After reading just a few of your entries I knew that picking a winner was going to be super hard. So I enlisted the help of my sisters, Leah & Sarah. They agreed to read all of the stories and pick a winner. I thought it would take a long time for them to get through them all and decide on one that really stood out. They’re fast readers though I guess..haha! The winning couple stood out right away to both Leah & Sarah and there was no question as to who their choice was. So without further ado I would like to say congratulations to Leslie & Jamel, our 2010 Bride+Groom Contest winners!! Leslie & Jamel have won a wedding package plus an engagement session that is valued at $2150 for their wedding this coming summer. Congrats again you guys! I am so excited!! Here is their story…
Jamel and Leslie: A Love Story
Jamel and I met while working at the Gap in Houston in the spring of 2007. We were both in school at the University of Houston, but had never seen each other at school. It wasn’t long before Jamel and I found ourselves talking at work every chance we had and maybe flirting just a little. Eventually that led to him giving me his phone number and asking me to call if I wanted to hang out. Well, I didn’t call him that night because I was a chicken so the next time we worked together he called me out on it. I called him that night after work and our plans were to meet at my apartment to watch a movie. When he showed up at my apartment and I opened the door there he was with a friend that we worked with at the Gap. I was convinced that he didn’t like me at this point. Then he called me the next day and asked if I wanted to hang out again. I said yes thinking that he was bringing his friend over again. I was surprised when he showed up without his friend. We ended up talking and laughing all night long. He had all the qualities that I had ever dreamed of in the man I wished to marry. Depth, maturity, goals, ambition, humor and most important he loved the Lord. It was that night that I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.
Two years later, August 09, I changed career paths and left Pharmacy school to become a nurse and with Jamel’s support and love we decided to have a long distance relationship. My plans were to move back to Amarillo to go to nursing school and he would stay in Houston to go to optometry school. We had spent summers and holidays apart for the last two years so I was convinced that it wouldn’t be hard to have a long distance relationship, but it has been the most challenging yet wonderful thing that could have happened to our relationship. The distance has made us more aware of our communication with each other and appreciative of the time we do get to spend together. We decided that we would see each other once a month and alternate cities every month and we would write love letters to each other. I had sent him a letter in August and he told me he would just give me my letter when I came to Houston in September. I left on Thursday the 10th of September for Houston to spend the weekend with him. On our way to his house from the airport that night he told me he wanted to read me the letter he wrote and I said ok not thinking anymore about it. We got to his apartment and put my suitcase in his room and the first thing he did was get out his computer to read me the letter.
This is the letter he read me that night:
Leslie, you are truly an amazing person. I am very blessed to have you in my life. You care so much for my family and me and I really appreciate that. Who would have thought that the girl who barely even noticed me the first time we met would have such a dramatic impact on my life. Since you have been in my life, I have been extremely happy. I admire your hard work, love for people, and intelligence. You are such a beautiful person inside and out. I thank God for letting our paths cross, because I feel that you and I make a very good team. I am so deeply in love with you, my thoughts always include you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I see a very successful life ahead of us, and I know with you we can achieve all of our goals and live a full Christian life. I am so excited about my future with you, and this is only the beginning.
At the end of the letter I thought he was just putting up his computer and I was so touched by his kindness and love I just wanted to hug him, when all of a sudden he was down on his knee with a small box in his hands and he asked if I would be his wife. I just started crying and hugging him and he just kept asking if it was a yes and I said of course it’s a yes! He put the ring on my finger and I just cried some more. The moment was so perfect and sincere I couldn’t have thought of anything better. I was touched that he proposed and that it was just the 2 of us present…it was truly amazing.
Jamel and I have faced many obstacles to get to where we are today. We are in a long distance relationship while he is in graduate school and I am getting my nursing degree. We have over 600 miles that separate us from each other but I feel closer to him in heart and spirit despite the distance. Jamel and I also face the scrutiny of being an inter-racial couple and someday raising children of a mixed race. We realize that our future will include the blending of his African American urban culture with my Caucasian suburban culture as well as uniting our families. Through all of these obstacles our love and faith in Christ and support from our families has made us a strong couple that is excited to walk through this life with Christ together.