Andrea and Tim met at Cedar Valley College in
2002.
In 2002 Tim started work as the Director of the
Teaching Learning Center at Cedar Valley College. A few months
later Andrea started work as a math teacher. Because of a mix
up Andrea was without an office. She found her way to the
Teaching Learning Center (TLC) where Tim told her she was welcome to stay
and store her items during the day.
Andrea had found a home in the TLC and became the number
one Teaching Learning Center customer. She attended more
workshops than any other faculty member and was even issued an
award for her attendance. After years of working closely together Tim sent an
email to Andrea that said, “There is a humorous irony in that you
are a mathematician and yet it feels like you can't put 2 and 2
together” and she began to calculate!
Tim and Andrea began dating. Before even
seeing their first movie together they jumped on a plane and went to
St. John’s in the Virgin Islands and camped on the beach. Since
then they have hiked the Inca Trail in Peru, skied in Lake Tahoe,
snorkeled with sharks in Belize, climbed the Statue of Liberty in
New York, and gazed at the stars from a mountain top in Bolivia.
When it was finally time to ask
the big question Tim chose the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland for the
site of the proposal. Once there, he discovered that there had been
changes to the area open to the public and it was not what he had
hoped. He quickly made adjustments and took Andrea to an isolated
overlook of the cliffs. There was a bright rainbow in the sky and
the sun was glistening on the ocean as the waves crashed along the
shore. Tim got down on one knee and asked Andrea to marry him.
With tears in her eyes and amazed by the ring, she finally realized
that she hadn’t said “yes” and did so. Yea!
To make the moment special Tim had a special
engagement ring designed. The ring was fashioned after the
traditional Irish Claddagh ring. The Claddagh's
distinctive design features two hands
clasping a heart
that is usually surmounted by a crown.
The elements of this symbol correspond to the qualities of love
(the heart), friendship
(the hands), and loyalty
(the crown). These are said to be the ingredients for a happy
marriage and the expression "Let love and friendship reign" is
associated with the ring. Tim searched for a heart-shaped
emerald and had the ring inscribed with “Let Love Reign.”
Click here to read more about the Claddagh.
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