Jackie & Max

With decision day for the Karenscape "How I Found The One" contest rapidly approaching, we're facing a slight dilemma... how do we choose the best out of so many amazing love stories??

So we're asking for your input.

Over the next week, we'll be posting videos from couples sharing their love stories in hopes of winning a free complete wedding photography package from one of New York's most talented photographers, Karen Gordon.

...

Jackie & Max

Our first entry was from Jackie & Max. Max doesn't make an appearance in the video, but since he's serving in Iraq, I think we'll let him get away with it! Below Jackie's video is the e-mail he sent us as a compliment.




26 March, 2008

The following story is an opportunity for me to share how I remember falling in love with my wife, Jackie. Consider this the cliff notes version, written to be a 3 minute read (my attempt to match your timeline standards). I know you prefer a video but let’s just say I am currently living with limited means. I hope Jackie’s submission meets our requirement to submit a video and this may serve as a compliment to her story. It would be an amazing honor if you decide to select us in this contest but I’ve honestly just enjoyed reliving the enclosed moments while writing this story, so thanks for the encouragement. Thank you for this opportunity and I hope you enjoy reading our simple love story a fraction as much as I enjoyed living it.

The Story of Jackie and Max
By Max Ferguson

Jackie and I first met some eleven years ago, after a freshman dance in High School. All of our friends became close and by our junior year, Jackie and I found ourselves dating. Our relationship lasted six months however, and by the end of High School, we lost touch and followed our separate paths.


It wasn’t until the spring of our sophomore year in College, when I saw Jackie for the first time in almost three years, that I rediscovered her: Jackie was simply beautiful, not just “hot,” but beautiful in a classic, timeless sort of way. She was smart, confident, and I instantly adored her. I’d like to say it was “love at first sight,” but we’d been friends for over six years. In a less-than-sober hug goodbye, I unintentionally whispered in her ear, “I love you.” Her reluctant reply: “Happy Easter?” I was instantly embarrassed by my unplanned confession but I now attribute those three accidental words to ultimately bringing us together.



Over the course of that summer, while I was away doing Army training, we exchanged random phone calls and innocent emails. Meanwhile, a powerful and unspoken attraction grew between us. We wouldn’t see each other again until that Labor Day weekend but by that time, Jackie had worked her way into my dreams and I had to have her. Not only was I wildly attracted to her, I admired and respected her and cherished her company. Of course, the timing was horrible. Jackie left two weeks later to spend the semester studying abroad in France.

That semester apart was an incredible tease, but the Atlantic Ocean between us only brought us closer together. When it was over, I had fallen in love with her. Four years later, history seemed to repeat itself when Jackie and I married just three weeks before I left for a 15 month deployment to Iraq. Now 6,000 miles apart and 8 months since our last kiss, I love her more than ever before.


Our wedding day will serve as a culmination of celebrations. The day will mark our two year anniversary, a homecoming, and families reunited. I have a lot to look forward to when I come home, as any Soldier would. But more than anything else, it’s Jackie and our life together that has me the most excited.