James and Brenda's Hawaii Wedding

This is not a posed picture...

THE JAMES AND BRENDA STORY
A MUST READ

Let me just say that for the most part, when I blog about my wedding couples, I do most of the writing. I take off my "wedding guy" hat, slap on my dusty old "screenwriters" cap, and start pounding away at the keyboard to tell the love story of my couples. For James and Brenda, I didn't have to do to put on my "screenwriters" cap at all! When I asked them to send me bullet-points of their love story, they sent me an awesome, well crafted, love story that I didn't have to edit! Basically, I just had to hit the cut and paste button on my computer! Hey less work for me...I'm not complaining here. So here is their love story, unedited, word for word.

I'll let James take the floor from here:

"So, long story short...



Brenda and I attended high school together. We both had huge crushes on each other, but nothing ever came of it because we both were too afraid to tell one another. Right after high school we both worked for the same company and again we both didn't share our feelings with one another. More simply put, I was blind to her feelings. What a stup! Anyway, I joined the military in 1989 and moved away. A couple of years later I got married and had two beautiful children.

Brenda waited her entire life to make this walk

And you may kiss the bride

It wasn't until 1996 that we ran into one another again. It was purely by luck, (or was it divine intervention?) that we were both traveling home through the Minneapolis-St Paul airport on Valentines Day no less! Those crush feelings came flooding back, but were magnified 10-fold by then. We stayed in contact for a period after 1996, but Brenda ended up getting married and had a beautiful daughter of her own.



Leap forward a few years and little did each other know, but we were both single and just waiting for each other... On Oct 18, 2009 I sent Brenda an e-mail saying "hi" and congratulating and complimenting her on her beautiful daughter. She sent back a response an agonizing two weeks later. It wasn't until the 3rd or 4th e-mail that we shared our relationship status with each other. From that moment on I knew that I had to do whatever I could to find out if she was truly the one meant for me. She's always been the girl I've held in comparison to others and none have ever compared. Up until Mar 4, 2010, the day of our first kiss, she had always been my one and only 'could have been."



That all changed with one single kiss and my sun now absolutely rises and sets with her. Have I ever mentioned to you just how incredibly gorgeous this woman is? OMG...



Okay, Brens turn... Lol"

- James

Alright, hmm....lets hear what Brenda has to say:

"Well, James' story seems a little one-sided so let me fill you in with a few more details . . .

Yes, James and I went to high school together and knew each other through mutual friends. He will still tell the story today of the first time that he saw me on the stairwell at the high school. What a silly guy. I thought he was waaaaay out of my league when we went to school. He won't admit it, but he was such a player-or at least I thought so. He looked so adorable in his denim/flannel jacket and the girls flocked around him! Especially with that Magnum PI hairdo . . .

Anyway, we didn't really talk to each other too much during high school. Our story really began right after we graduated in 1986. We started working together and that's where we really got close to each other. I could talk to James about anything. He quickly became my best friend and my closest confidant. And, unknown to him, the object of my affection. I had such a huge crush on him, but I didn't know how to tell him. Oh, and I tried!! Just ask his best friend Roy. It was obvious to him, but not to James.

Neither of us really remember how this happened, but James invited me to parent's house to watch a movie one night. It was simply two buddies hanging out (or at least I thought so). I mean, how could James be interested in me?! So, I went to his house and we never really got around to watching that movie. He showed me all of his prized possesions and we looked at pictures of him growing up etc. I loved hanging out with him and his family. Let me tell you about the romantic side of James. So, we were 19 at the time and one of James's most prized possessions was a wedding ring set that he bought to fit the girl of his dreams when he was 15. It was beautiful. And I got to try it on. Let me tell you, that really started some daydreaming about us being together. But, again, we were just buddies so it wasn't going to go anywhere. Looking back, that was the day that I really fell in love with him . . .

So, we hung out and talked about everything. I was going to college and working a ton of hours, so here's the embarrassing part of the story . . . When we finally did get around to turning on that movie, I fell asleep on his parent's living room floor. Remember that denim/flannel jacket that I loved to see him wearing? Well, I was wearing it when I fell asleep that night. His mom covered me up with an afghan and there I slept. At one point I thought I remembered James leaning down and thought he was going to kiss me, but he didn't. Later, he will tell me that he was planning on it, but chickened out. When I woke up a while later, I was mortified. So, I got up and snuck out of the house in the middle of the night and went home. I was so afraid that I'd made such a complete fool of myself in front of James that I couldn't face him.

We worked together for a while after that, but neither of us really ever talked about that night. I still kept my crush hidden from him and life went on.

Then, James joined the military and moved away. We didn't really have any contact for several years, but he never left my mind. I always wondered what he was up to and where he was. And then came Valentine's day in 1996. I was traveling from Wisconsin to Montana and was on a five hour layover in Minneapolis. As I was walking through the airport, I thought that I saw James pass by. I looked for him in the crowd, but lost sight of him. I thought it was just my imagination until about two hours later when he walked up to me. He still says that he saw me first, but little did he know that I'd seen him earlier. It was such a coincidence . . . he was traveling from Finland, I was coming from Wisconsin and we were both booked on the exact same flight to Montana! I was shocked! We talked for a few minutes and then told each other that we'd meet up at the gate. When I got there, James had gone and bought me a rose. We sat together and talked the whole way home. He was home for about a week and we met for coffee one night. It was still so easy to talk to him. We started up right where we left off.

The day that James left I found roses on my doorstep with a card tha said that he wished that he would have kissed me that night because he wondered where our lives would have been if he had. Who knew?! Up until this point I was oblivious to his feelings for me. I thought we were just buddies.

So, I decided to run to the airport and tell him how I felt about him. Sounds like something in a movie, right?! I race up to his gate to tell him that I'd always had a crush on him, but he wasn't alone. He was there with his inlaws and now I felt like a fool. They had already seen me and I couldn't tuck my tail between my legs and run, so I just stood there like an idiot. I just told him that I wanted to say goodbye. We hugged and he got one the plane and flew away. I thought I'd never see him again. I'd never be able to tell him how I felt about him. The timing was terrible--he was married and had two wonderful children. What a stupid thing for me to do. So, we lost contact with each other after that.

I received a few letters and phone calls throughout the years, but the timing was never right to say anything. Just as before, I kept my feelings hidden and never told him why I'd come to the airport that day.

Over the years, the contact lessened and we both went on with our seperate lives. I often wondered about him, but had given up on ever seeing him again. Although, every time I was in an aiport, I would always look for him. It's a hard habit to break even to this day when he's at my side!

After both of our marriages had ended, out of the blue one day, I received an email from James. I was shocked!!!! And I didn't know how to respond. I figured that he was still married so I didn't email him back right away. I wrote and rewrote that email over and over again. I think it ended up being something so simple like " Good to hear from you. How are you doing?" After a few emails, I had to ask about his wife and kids. Yippee! He had been divorced for some time then. Yet, there was still the problem of us living a world apart and not being able to tell him that I still had feelings for him.

We fell back into that easy pattern of being able to tell each other everything. My heart flipped when I received a call from Afghanistan late one night and it was James' voice on the other end of the phone! There was no mistaking that it was him. My heart was racing. We ended up growing that relationship from friendship to love in a short period of time.

It was funny how our lives mirrored each other's. Our lives had paralled each others in so many ways. We came to find out how much alike we both are. It wasn't until March 4th of 2010 that I was able to see him again. It had been since 1996 when we had said goodbye at the airport since we'd actually seen each other.

And that was it! There was no turning back from that point on. The moment he held me in his arms I knew that I was where I was supposed to be! He always was my one true love!

We've talked about where we would have been if he would have kissed me that night. But, we both agree that it wasn't our time. We had to spend time becoming the people that we are now to really appreciate each other.

When I look into his eyes, I know that it's for real and that it's everlasting. He is the person that I'm supposed to be with. He is my best friend, my true love, my confidant. I can't imagine being apart from him again. Our story has reached over many many years and it will continue on for many more.

Thanks for being a part of our story, Steve. I know that this was supposed to be a few quick bullet points, but our story is anything but a few quick points. Maybe if he would have kissed me that night back in college . . . . Who knows? Maybe it would have been a lot shorter, but where's the fun in that?!"

- Brenda

James and Brenda from Steven Young on Vimeo.

AND NOW, IT'S MY TURN TO SPEAK...

So James had a Magnum P.I. haircut? What exactly is a Magnum P.I. haircut anyway? I can imagine a Magnum P.I. mustache. Seriously? James...do you have a picture?

When I first met James and Brenda, I couldn't believe my eyes. Now, all of my couples are in love, there's no doubt about that. But James and Brenda sure do act like teenagers in love, and I mean that in a very good way. They have that puppy dog love that usually only exist...well, when you're in high school. I'm not sure how to describe it, but they way they look each other it seems as though that anything is possible, that together, they can do anything. Get what I'm trying to say here... In any case, it's awe inspiring.

Steve Young
The "Cut" and "Paste" guy
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com/