A Marriage Made in...

The Food Co-op!

By collette caprara

sister who lives in New York City and had a wonderful visit with her, but when I came back, I was pretty lonely."

"The first time I saw Jonathan was at a co-op board meeting, but he was just in a little box on Zoom," recalled Toni. "Then I met him in person when I was taking down equipment for the Events committee. I introduced myself but didn't have a chance to talk with him. Then, surprisingly, I received a text from him a couple of months later."

"I had confided to a friend about my loneliness," said Jonathan. "He said, 'you know, Toni is available.'We had only met through Zoom and maybe just once or twice at the store, but I took the leap and asked if she would have coffee with me," said Jonathan.

A Courtship of Texting

Toni and Jonathan made plans to meet at a coffee shop for breakfast. It was mid-January and snow was in the forecast, so business was slow and they had an upstairs room to themselves where they talked for an hour. Their first official date was the following Friday and a courtship of texting ensued. "Our texts became hysterically funny and we shared pictures of our pets and beautiful sunsets," said Toni. "We've been together ever since!"

The couple compared their blossoming relationship to a Hallmark movie with a tagline Handsome Widower Meets New Girl in Town. "It's been a whirlwind and so much fun," said Toni. "We are old enough to know what is important and what isn't important to us!" Toni and Jonathan were married on April 15 and are honey-mooning in England as this is written.

A Unique Wedding Album

As might be expected, the Stevens wedding album is as unique as their romance. "We shared so much about our lives through texts during that first week, that Jonathan mentioned he wished there was some way to save that experience so we would never forget how enchanted we were," said Toni. Her solution was the creation of a 53-page hard-cover book that featured transcriptions of all of their texts, as well as the photos they sent and a bevy of heart emojis.

The light and love Toni and Jonathan share have been an inspiration and comfort to others as well. Gloria Lloyd, who was a founding member of the co-op and chairs the Events committee, recently wrote: "They joined me in monthly Bag Bees, creating environmentally-friendly grocery bags, and we shared lots of laughter during those sessions.

“Last year, in the midst of grieving the death of my husband, Bob, the sparkle between Jonathan and Toni was a gift for my spirit. I could observe the joy they shared and rejoiced in seeing the good energy they invested as they put their co-op values into practice. They are both committed people with strong beliefs in volunteering their time for community good. I am so grateful that our lives connected."

Joshua Cole

Guest Porch Editorial

Contributing Writers & Artists

Victoria AlicandroRita Allan

Sally Cooney AndersonLois Baird

Dianne BachmanLaurie Black

Carol BochertKhalilah Brooker

Chelius CarterSonja Cantu

Collette CapraraTrista Chapman

Joshua Cole Janet Douberly

Jo Ann DinwoodieJeannie Ellis

Jenna Elizabeth Edwards

Caroline FordFrank Fratoe

Bill FreehlingJon Gerlach

Daniel Gillison, JrAnnie Harpe

Ralph “Tuffy” HicksNancy Kelly

David C. KennedyRay Mikula

Vanessa Moncure

Pete Morelewicz

Patrick Neustatter Danae Peckler

M.L. PowersPaula Raudenbush

Gerri ReidRob Rudick

Ranjit SinghMandy Smith

Anne TimpanoRim Vining

Tina WillNorma Woodward

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