Our story
Like every fairytale, their story began with love at first sight. From the moment they set eyes on each other, at that nightclub in Kingston, ON, Jessica Knew immediately that she would marry Teewhy. Teewhy, well, he researched rings that night. They met in Kingston, while Teewhy was stationed at Fort Drum, NY. That’s the story they tell those who aren’t special to them.
To you, they tell the true story.
They met on Tinder. Yes, Tinder. You know, the app – swipe left for “No way in the world would I have coffee with you!” and swipe right for “Oh, hello McDreamy. Future co-parent of our amazing children.” Their story isn’t exciting, but it is special. They both were in search of something special. As Jess says “I had a list of what I wanted in a man and I was not going to compromise.” When they both swiped right to each other, Jess was confused why it showed Teewhy as over 100 miles away. Teewhy had paid for what was known as Tinder +, that allowed you to swipe on profiles outside of the preset 30-mile radius. Teewhy says, “That was the best $9.99 I ever spent. I figured I spend more than that a day on things I can never account for, why not spend it on something that may be life changing?”
They became friends and talked for months before ever seeing each other. On September 20th, Teewhy’s brother visited him, enroute to St John’s, Newfoundland for his masters and Teewhy generously offered to drive him to the Ottawa airport. It wasn’t truly generosity, as much as a chance to meet Jess in person. He couldn’t wait for his brother to walk through security before calling Jess and asking for a date. Jess hurriedly showered and got ready.
That date was the beginning of a lot of firsts for them. Teewhy had a stout for the first time, to impress Jess – hated it, but suffered through it. Jess never found out until several dates later. It marked the first of several cross country trips for them, with Jess visiting Watertown, and Teewhy sneaking into Canada every long weekend, regardless if he got an approved pass to leave the country or not. Ottawa to Watertown being just a short 2-hour drive helped things a lot.
Their love grew stronger with every day. Introducing Teewhy to Jess’ friends was easy. They loved him and accepted him immediately (how could they not?). Jess was tested. She was invited to a barbeque, where she impressed them by eating very spicy grilled fish. Teewhy says, “I am still not sure if it was her ability to easily handle spicy foods, or her openness, or personality that won them over but whatever it was, it worked like a charm.” Their families never even hesitated for a bit. Both families love and adore them and were ready to start making wedding plans before they were.
Their story did not come without its own unique challenges. Being in an interracial relationship in the United States taught many lessons. Jess experienced her first case of racial discrimination in Georgia, on our way to Teewhy’s Officer Candidate School. They worked through a long distance relationship, with Teewhy being in various school for months, and both of them living in other countries. They learned a lot from these challenges. They learned to survive as a couple, to trust one another and to be patient.
Years of memories later, Teewhy asked Jess to marry him after a trip to the UK, at the annual Monroe’s Mills Barn Dance. Shortly after, Teewhy got orders to Korea for a year, in the middle of the immigration process, leaving Jess alone in the US. Their family and friends, too numerous to mention, made sure she was fine though out.
No love story can be complete without a selfless act. Teewhy was scheduled to return from Korea in the middle of the COVID-19 epidemic and was ordered to quarantine for 14 days. Jess insisted on quarantining with him because she wasn’t ready to spend one more day apart from him. #Quarancation2020. Truer dedication does not exist.
We hope that you can join us to celebrate our love, at the same place where we agreed to spend the rest of our lives together.