Finding Each Other:
Kim started working at Stop and Shop in Wappingers Falls, New York on July 17, 2005 as a part time cashier. She was pretty quiet at first, after all it was her first mainstream and steady job (before that it was a small daycare and a summer job at Splashdown). Everyone there was really nice and easy to talk to. She soon met a quiet guy named Tom who worked there.
He was the guy who would bring in all the carts. He seemed pretty popular there – the other employees talked to him regularly whenever he was inside and seemed well known. Turns out his mom helped him get a job at that store when he turned 16 since she worked at another Stop and Shop in the bakery department.
One day, a few weeks after Kim started working at Stop and Shop, it was pretty busy in the store and Kim was on register by herself. She got something without a price or barcode number on it, which meant she couldn’t ring it up. The customer told her how much the item was per pound, but she still had no idea how to ring it into the register. She saw Tom walking past. Although she had never said hi to him before, she knew his name because, well, those stupid name tags stores force you to wear so shoppers can hunt you down and pretend they know all about you when they call your name out for help and he was wearing his. She honestly was surprised when he stopped and looked at her. She asked him if he knew how to ring in something without a barcode. He came over and showed her how and then stayed to bag the rest of the current customer’s order. She thanked him and the two started talking from then on out.
Found out they were both going to be seniors in high school, Kim from Roy C. Ketcham High School and Tom from Beacon High School. Both planned on going to college, Tom for Computer Science and Kim for Forensic Science. Kim liked his sense of humor and Tom appreciated that she didn’t become easily offended with some of his jokes. They became good friends, which Kim liked because she didn’t have guy friends. Tom didn’t seem to mind either, as the two of them talked frequently during work and after work. It seemed that some people at the store didn’t favor the two getting along so well. Apparently, Tom was a sought out guy by the girls there. Kim understood why – he was a great looking guy who wasn’t narrow minded or a slimeball. She realized, “Yeah, I like him…a lot, more than just a friend.” She had learned before going away to college that Tom was in a relationship.
It was perfect timing really, because for Kim, she could go away to school and put some distance between them in order to try and stop liking Tom in more than “just a friend” way (which we all know how that usually turns out). So Kim went away to Long Island University, C.W. Post and Tom stayed local, going to Dutchess Community College. Except Kim wasn’t gone more than a week before Tom started texting her and the two began talking again. Kim liked some guys from Post, but none worked out. Tom and Kim talked the entire school year and when Kim came home for school breaks, she would stop by the store (usually with goodies from Dunkin Donuts or Dairy Queen).
Falling Together:
Kim finished up her first year of college and came home for the summer, returning to Stop and Shop to work through the summer. Tom was still there and the two picked up talking and joking around like nothing had changed. She had come to accept that she couldn’t be with him in a relationship and was okay with it, because she didn’t want to lose Tom as a friend.
Kim found out Tom’s relationship ended the middle of June and felt bad for him. She hadn’t known the other person, just that Tom had been in a long relationship with her. Pretty much everyone had figured out that Kim had liked Tom for quite a while and were “rooting for her to go for it” but Kim wasn’t going to be “rebound girl” and didn’t even know if Tom was interested her in the first place.
Well, turns out he was into her. Just as much as Kim was into Tom. Tom started being flirty and ‘obvious’ in liking Kim. The two went on a trip to Six Flags together with some work friends early July and on their first rollercoaster ride of the day “Superman” Tom took Kim’s hand in his and held it the entire ride (and for the whole day at the park). A few days after that, Kim and Tom had their first kiss after work, while talking in the parking lot for hours.
On July 23, 2007 after a day of playing volleyball with friends and being rained out, Kim, Tom and friends went to their usual watering hole – Wendy’s – to eat. Everyone wound up back in Kim’s car because it was raining and thundering and while sitting in the front seat together, Tom asked Kim to be his girlfriend. She thought he was downright crazy because he had been in a pretty intense relationship beforehand and Tom had been around long enough to know that Kim could be pretty crazy and care-free when she was around her friends. But Tom understood, so Kim said yes.
The Journey:
Kim went back to LIU for another year and Tom came to visit during the year. It was a new relationship and already the two were willing to have a long distance relationship. Tom was to complete his Associate’s at DCC and Kim had a change of heart and mind and changed her major and transferred schools (for the better). Both applied and were accepted to SUNY Oneonta. Tom says Kim followed him there, but in reality, Kim wanted a SUNY school and Binghamton didn’t get back to her until after she accepted Oneonta.
The two spent two years at Oneonta and lived together senior year. They both graduated with Bachelor’s Degrees, Tom with Computer Science and Kim with Child and Family Studies, which allowed her to apply and be accepted into a Master’s Program at Marist to become a Mental Health Counselor. Both Tom and Kim moved home May 2010. Tom got a job up in Oneonta as a Web Developer and moved back up there November 2010, starting another round of long distance between him and Kim. Kim continued working towards her Master’s. It was a difficult year and a half of being separated, but both persevered through.
Tom had gained enough experience and landed a job local in Poughkeepsie, NY and was able to move back home May 2012. Kim was ecstatic as it was right before her graduation and Tom would finally be home again. Tom got his own place and Kim was more than happy to come over and spend time with him.
The year 2013 turned out to be a great one: Kim was able to get a full time job with the agency she had already been working with on a per diem basis and as a full time mental health counselor! Tom was settling into his job, which he was finding he was content with. Both decided that they wanted to live together and made it happen by moving into their own apartment February 1st, 2013. They even went on their first full week vacation together, cruising in the Bahamas in May 2013.
2014 had its ups and downs, as every year does. Both Kim and Tom got healthier by going to the gym and cooking healthier (which was okay with them because they a) love food and b) love cooking together). Kim became a fully licensed Mental Health Counselor and Tom achieved a raise at his job for his hard work and dedication to the company.
The Proposal:
Tom and Kim went looking for engagement rings around September 2014, just to look and get a realistic idea on what was available. They both had agreed that they wanted to be together and get married at some point, as they had been through a lot over the past seven years and had developed into an incredibly resilient and supportive couple. Hey they look pretty good together too.
Tom and Kim started a journal together in August, just to connect and talk to with one another. On October 1st, the day before Kim was to fly out to Florida for a week, Tom proposed. They were writing in their journal at 11:00 at night and it was Tom’s turn to pick a topic, in which he stated, “Something that you have wanted to stay to the other person, but haven’t yet.” Kim went first, writing how she was grateful for Tom’s patience and how helpful he has been in the relationship. Then Tom went. Kim turned away to grab her own personal journal and start writing. Tom wrote in their journal quick and handed it to Kim. As she was reading it, she couldn’t believe her eyes on what was on the page,
And when she turned to look at him, he had the opened ring box in his hand. She again asked him if he was sure (as she did when he first asked her to be his girlfriend seven years ago) as everyone knows Kim can still be kind of kooky and he still said yes he was sure, so Kim said yes!
And here we are and now we want to celebrate our crazy resilient love with everyone in one big day!