God works in funny ways. He puts us in our own boat and gives us oars to paddle anywhere, but he can’t help himself from blowing some wind to push those meant to meet together.


On New Years Eve, 2021, two people unknown to one another and who had never met were doing very different things. A woman dressed to the nines hosted a party. She was always the magic behind moments like these. As the balloons fell, she said goodbye to another year alone, this one the last of her 20s. She had made a vow to herself she would not close herself off to love.


Meanwhile, a man in only his underwear tipped over asleep on his couch, cuddling his son who adorned a similar outfit. He was always there for the people he loved. As his eyes opened, he said goodbye to another year where memories like these were his alone, as was the chore of ferrying his son to bed. He had made a vow to his dying Godfather that he would not give up on love.


They didn’t meet each other that night, but like we said earlier, God has a funny way in doing things. So a woman and man, individually touted as “the most connected person in Buffalo” yet never betwixt themselves, were destined to find one another. So much so that it took the prodding of Marirose’s friends and a promise Jack made in his Godfather’s dying days that pushed them both to give online dating a try. Not the storybook event you had hoped for, you say? Ha, well, that’s where you are wrong. Now Jack was soft for a girl who loved the Bills, tequila and her family, and Mar decided to say yes to a man whose pictures were full of his son and him both acting like they are 6 years old.


Well, after a few weeks of sharing stories over text and phone calls between snowstorms came a first date, with the customary warning not to wear open toed shoes (safety first at the ax throwing pen) and a kiss that set off fireworks in the dead of winter. And God sat back and watched what happened when two unstoppable forces collide.


Since that January, when the world was icy and still, Marirose and Jack never went cold again. The fire of passion, and the occasional volcanic eruption, have hallmarked a love between two people who waited for their person to appear. I don’t know if love at first sight is real, but doggone it they felt like they knew each other forever. In good times and rough times, they remain each other’s constant


And so it is, two people who took a chance and never held back, find themselves at the alter of true love, of devotion, of commitment through the tough and uncomfortable. They find the light in every day. Three little souls on this great big planet, happy. In life, we strive for finding our passion and our purpose, those we cannot love or live without. In each other, and with little Jack as their accomplice in all these adventures, two souls find their perfect match. And God, along with so many people we loved and lost, and so many more we are lucky to have, smiles.