It was summer. It was St. Louis. It was hot.

It was a city he knew nothing about – a city she had known her whole life.

Though they didn’t know it, summer wouldn’t begin until that unforgettable fourth of July week.

Tess and Owen met through a mutual friend, while both attending Covenant Seminary here in St. Louis. For a moment, each was aware of the other, though only as foggy, nameless silhouettes. She had heard about a student who moved on campus for summer classes, and he heard about a friend of a friend who was a Greek phenom. And on what could have otherwise been a marvelously uneventful Sunday night, the two would finally meet. The following 72 hours would be well documented, and often recalled with indelible rose colored glasses. And after all the pool parties, longboarding, rooftop conversations, and late summer nights, the conclusion seemed clear…

I, Owen Merrell, would be forever enraptured by Teresa Marie Badamo.