I never believed in soulmates. The tales of “love at first sight”, fate or destiny, all of that just never seemed very realistic to me. Although my grandparents used to tell the story of how they met in the 1940’s on a skating rink, and how they just knew in their hearts that they were meant for each other. My grandfather was in the Army and had just returned from World War II. My grandmother was recovering from a recent break up and had pretty much given up on finding the right one. She was working as a telephone operator and had decided at the last moment to go out that evening to create a distraction, in hopes of mending her broken heart. When all of the sudden, a tall, handsome Army Veteran with a single curl hanging down his forehead, began skating backwards toward her. Once they made eye contact it happened, just like that, bam! Love was in the air. 💕 Once they met, it was as though they had loved each other a thousand lifetimes before, because they were completely and unconditionally destined to be together. When my grandfather asked her name, she replied “VaDella” and he thought she had said “ Vidalia” like the onion, because the music was too loud lol and upon taking her home, on that same night, my grandfather proposed to her! Shocked, she exclaimed “this is so sudden!” in which my grandfather replied “we do things fast in the Army” 🥹 She said yes, of course, and 68 wonderful years of marriage followed! Wow, what a beautiful life they shared. And so I had always dreamt of finding that kind of love, but I felt that it was so rare, probably one in a million would ever discover love that deep, so I believed that I would likely never experience it. That was until I met Jesse. I mean, it was like the stuff out of fairy tales, romance novels, a movie... Basically, I had given up on finding the “one” and figured I was destined to be alone forever, and I had finally made peace with that. Until I met Jesse. Love came completely unexpected and with no warning. Bam! And somehow we both felt it, we knew we had found the one, our missing piece, the twin flame our hearts had always been searching for 💞 And so we began our journey as a couple, nearly 400 miles apart, a serious long distance relationship! This arrangement only lasted a few short months (but felt like years!) Until we finally made the decision that we needed to be closer to share our lives together. Lucky for me, Jesse had never visited the Ozarks, and he was instantly blown away by the breathtaking beauty of the Ozark mountains and tablerock lake, the calm countryside was much different than the busy life in the city that he had always known, and he immediately knew this was the place he wanted to call home 🏡 Jesse relocated from Illinois to southern Missouri, and we have been inseparable ever since ❤️ He never hesitated to step up and happily assumed the role of Daddy to my two young daughters, Hanna and Emily, and we welcomed a third daughter together, Autumn. Jesse proposed to me on February 15th on the Branson Landing Boardwalk. When he kneeled down on one knee and asked me to marry him, our 5 year old daughter, Autumn, was with us. She was also surprised because she was not informed of the proposal. Autumn was jumping and yelling “Mommy! Mommy! Marry Daddy, Marry Daddy!!!” 🥹 - instantly brought tears to my eyes. Of course I said YES!!! 💍 🌹🌹🌹 We highly prioritize our family time and despite our extremely busy lives including working opposite shifts and juggling our daily responsibilities, school functions and parenthood, we strive to make time together and to create special family memories that we will all cherish forever. That being said, we made a decision: instead of having a BIG Wedding, we decided on a private ceremony with only a few close friends and family so that we can save up towards a special family adventure together. Love, The Future Mrs. Hess 🌹