Alissa and Bob

25 years…that’s a big deal and with a love affair like Alissa and Bob, should absolutely be celebrated!  The year was 1990 and Alissa was a senior in highschool,working at Leggett’s department store, when she laid eyes on a fellow co-worker Bob, for the 2nd time in her life.  She remembered him from 2 years earlier when he fitted her for shoes!  The Prince Charming moment was born that day, although she hadn’t fully realized he would permanently be written into her story!  She was smitten, but didn’t say a word.  In casual conversation asking about him, a co-worker said, “oh you are Bob’s heartthrob!”  Her heart skipped a beat with surprise and joy.  He was several years older than her so they waited till after she graduated from high school to start dating in 1991.

These two have been inseparable ever since.  They do everything together, at times to the annoyance of their friends.  Where Alissa goes, Bob goes and vise versa.  Bob travels for work and now that their kids are older, Alissa often gets to join him.  These two are part Modern Family’s Claire and Phil and part the beginning of every romantic comedy you’ve ever seen! When they mentioned doing yoga, I asked, “do you do that together?”  Alissa responded, “of course, we do everything together!”  These two are like a perpetual infatuation that typically has the shelf life of milk, however, they’ve managed to keep burning strong for 25+ years now.

She calls him her Prince Charming and asked at the end of her pre-consult planning meeting if Bob could be included in a few of the portraits.  She was coming for an Unveil your Cinderella portrait session because after following my work for years, Bob won a session for her we donated to a charity auction they were attending.  It didn’t take long for me to realize Bob wanted this pampering portrait experience for his beautiful bride and while she was excited about it, what she was most looking forward to was locking down her love of Bob.

Bob calls Alissa his angel so she was the perfect one for us to introduce our new new crafted, straight from Russia, wings!

I also learned that Bob was excited to mark down this time with his bride and was fully vested in the preparations so we’d be including him for more than a few minutes of the time!   Guys always love what we produce, but getting them on board and vested prior is a rare treat that is sure to mean awesomness is in store.   Bob joked if he has known he was going to get to kiss his wife so much he’d have gotten her this portrait time much sooner!  When these two came back to select their portraits, they could not have been more adorable!  Like newlyweds, they slid their chairs together and Bob told Alissa she should be a model!  She said, “I’m your model.”  Bob claims Alissa is an angel for putting up with all his **it for all these years.  Alissa claims it’s the other way around.

Alissa is a breast cancer survivor and Bob was her rock through the whole ordeal.  It has been 6 years since her initial diagnosis and this ravaging disease which destroys so much in its path, has only forged them more tightly together.  When you live through the shock of the diagnosis, the chemo, the radiation and the surgery you come out on the other side with, as Bob calls it, a “beautiful battle scar”  that he loves.  It’s a visual for what he almost lost, but still gets to hold tightly daily.

Alissa works in IT and uses her technical background to mentor others navigating the maze that is a cancer journey.  She’s well acquainted with the overwhelming nature of myriad of doctors appointments and how a woman is barraged with terms she’s never heard of and expected to make decisions required to save their life.  She has created apps to help women manage their appointments and medications.  She is an active member of the breast cancer community and takes very seriously her role to mentor others.  She meets with women to help infuse the strength required for their journey and give them a vision for health and healing on the other side of their diagnosis.

So here’s to a love that endures!  Bob and Alissa, may you continue to cling tightly to one another over your next 25 years and inspire others around you to chase hard after the joy in their journey!