Saturday, April 3, 2004 was my first day of work at EZ Marine & Storage, Inc, as a General Office Manager. James Moffitt was the head mechanic in the shop. Jim has been working at EZ Marine and Storage for almost 10 years. I will never forget the first time I was introduced to Jim. He and his co-worker came up for coffee at their 10 am morning break. I remember introducing myself and telling them that I made the coffee that morning. The best compliment of the day came from Jim, when he told me that the coffee for once did not have any coffee grounds and it tasted like real coffee. From that day forward, I made sure the everyone had good coffee with no coffee grounds.

Over the months working at EZ Marine & Storage, Jim and I became friends. We would small talk about certain things and of course a lot about work. I remember that September in 2004, when I got to meet his son Mat. His mother was a bus driver and needed to drop off Mat at his dads work. Mat would come sit with me in my office and do his homework while waiting for his dad to get done with his work down in the shop. When Jim and I first met, I was recently engaged, and Jim had been married for quite some time. I went through a rough divorce and was glad to have Jim for a friend at work. Jim helped me see the brighter things in life and helped me to cope with my struggles. Jim was also going through some rough times at home. His wife didn’t appreciate him the way that a wife should. She was never happy with anything that he did for her. So, in return, I was trying to be the best friend I could to help Jim through his struggles. Through the years, working with Jim we had some pretty good times. Always a good laugh now and then. I did remarry again and yes, went through a really rough divorce. I actually moved to North Carolina to try to recover from my hardship. While I was there, Jim and I would talk on the phone pretty much every day. We even Skyped a few times, where he actually took some funny pictures of my hair do’s. We had long talks about each other’s life struggles. He and his wife were going through a lot, where Jim actually left to try to find happiness again. After the loss of my dad, Richard, I came back to New York to start my life over. I am so grateful that Jim was there to help me through the worst time in my life. I was in return helping him through the worst time in his life.

Our first date was on Friday, March 7, 2014. My mom of course drove me down to Glens Falls to meet Jim at the Aviation Mall. Jim and I went to see the movie 300: Rise. I will admit we never really watched the movie, more like talked through the whole event. We held hands for the first time walking through the mall. I will never forget the wonderful feeling I had of being safe, happy, most of all joyful! Through the days, we talked on the phone for hours, I can’t tell you how many minutes poor Jim had to keep putting on his Tracfone. Long hours on the phone, secret meetings on top of Dynamite Hill, long drives going no where fast, our hearts where filling with happiness. We had no idea what life had in store for the two of us, but we were willing to take a chance. Jim was divorced and living in his truck. He didn’t know what to do or where to go. Through the months, I helped him find his way to an apartment in Brant Lake in October of 2014. His son Mat was also going through some hard times, living with his mom. In December of 2014, Jim asked me to move in with him. I of course agreed in hearts second. Our first Christmas together was magical. I think Mat saw for the first time; his dad was happy.

We lived in Brant Lake together for one year, then Mat came to live with us. We were the start of a family. Yes, we had disagreements, but all families do. We had made more good memories than anyone could ever imagine. Mat was going to college and was excelling in his studies, being on Dean’s List every quarter. His father and I were very proud of him. Our apartment was little, and boy do I mean little. I guess the right term would be very tiny. It was a two bedroom, but not big enough for three. We wanted to buy a home, but there was nothing right for us on the market. We did find a new place to rent with an option to buy within a year. We took the chance and went for it. After a year of renting, we finally decided to purchase our first home together. So, on October 3, 2018 we signed papers to our new home in Johnsburg. We were starting a new chapter in our life.

On Thursday, March 7, 2019, I was sitting in my rocking chair, crocheting a blanket for our new beagle puppies coming in April. Jim was walking down the hallway and I could feel his presence behind me. He put one hand on my shoulder and in the other hand he presented me with a white box, opened with a beautiful aquamarine stone, with white topaz stones surrounding the stone. Jim then asked me if I would marry him, I of course with tears running down full of happiness, said YES!!!

Not knowing what life has in store for us, we look back at what we both went through. Our struggles of bad times, tears of happiness and joy. We are taking each day as it is presented to us. I know that our love continues to grow, our friendship excels each day, and we are stronger together than apart. God put Jim and I together, for we are two hearts but, one soul. We are not sure what the future has in store for us, but together we can go through any storm that may occur, any ocean we need to swim, and many days filled with sunshine and balloons. We are stronger as one than two as we start the next chapter in our life.