Our Story (Laura's version)

Our story starts in the fall of 1981 at Saint Joseph Academy in Mr. Velez's 7th grade homeroom class. Teddy sat behind me in several classes throughout our years at St. Joe and although we didn't spend a lot of time together we enjoyed some great conversations according to some interesting yearbook entries we recently read! After graduation Teddy moved to College Station to attend Texas A&M University and I moved to Austin and enrolled at the University of Texas.

Fast forward about 34 years to 2021 when this Aggie and this Longhorn (with the help of social media and a few St. Joe fundraising phone calls made by Teddy Lopez) reestablished our friendship. I was already making the move back to Brownsville after living in Austin and Dallas for many years and Teddy made an excellent welcoming committee as I settled back in Brownsville. We visited familiar old haunts, enjoyed hours upon hours of great conversation, and, yes, we spent lots of time on the island fishing!

As we continued to spend time together, our relationship turned into a beautiful romance and a deep love for one another. On June 7th, 2023, Teddy had plans to take me to dinner but I was really not up for a night out. I had friends coming from Dallas the next day for some time on the island and I needed a night home. He's usually really easy going about our plans but he was not giving in about changing them this time. I was so annoyed and didn't want to go and didn't speak to him until we hit the causeway. Driving over that bridge always lifts my mood and a couple of drinks at dinner helped too! After a stunning sunset on South Padre Island, down on one knee, Teddy asked me to marry him. And I said yes! So here we are, almost 43 years after meeting in homeroom, getting married! On to the next adventure:)

Our Story (Teddy's version)

Our Story starts in the fall of 1981 in the hallways of the red and white. Two 7th graders entering our first day of school trying to find our homerooms to get our schedules and locker assignments. Lieck then Lopez, fate would have me sitting right behind her. Conversation was pretty limited that year, since it was Mr.Velez’s homeroom but it was the beginning of a relationship that would lead to some great 7th grade make out sessions. Ha, ha! Nope. Laura Lieck was a good girl and for 6 years we would often sit next to each other in class but unfortunately nothing juicy ever happened. It was a very cordial and platonic high school friendship. College took us in two different directions, Austin and College Station. For 34 years we went from the Southwest Conference to the Big 12 to the SEC, wait.. wait… wait.

I mean for 34 years our lives really never intersected. Once in 2019, I got her to agree that she would reach out to me “the next time she came to Brownsville” so we could meet up for “coffee”. No luck… but then, fortunes changed, Winter of 21, I hear that Laura is interested in moving back to Brownsville. That meant only one thing, time to amp up the facebook comments on her facebook posts. With the help of our mutual friend and classmate Melinda Gomez, Laura was able to get some job opening information with BISD and I was able to go from facebook posts comments, to DM’s, to phone calls. We developed a long distance friendship over the phone that spring that sometimes had us staying up late in the evening like two high school kids on a school night. That spring culminated in a trip to Austin to surprise Laura for her Birthday while she was having lunch with her sister at Hula Hut. I showed up with flowers and hope. Lunch turned into dinner, then we met for breakfast, then 3 weeks later she was in Brownsville to stay with a new place, a new job and a new boyfriend. Boyfriend for a couple of years, until June 7th, 2023. A beautiful dinner at Liam's on the island was the plan, only she really didn't want to go out that night. At all! She had friends coming in to go to the island the next day and she wanted a quiet night at home instead. Annoyed that I didn't change our plans for dinner (reservations were made and an after party already in the works) she didn't even speak to me in the car until we reached the causeway! A couple of drinks, a great dinner, and a gorgeous sunset lifted her mood and it was time. Down on one knee, I asked her to marry me. She was caught off guard and speechless but eventually the word "yes"! was spoken and we were engaged! And off we went to our engagement party to celebrate even though I told her that I had spoken to no one except our friend Ginny about the proposal plan. Oops! And the rest, as they say, is history!

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