Eleanor and Thomas’ love story is an atypical one. Their love story doesn’t follow the usual pattern of love, marriage and then babies. Their love story began in Maryland and sounds more like love… lots of love…. 37 wonderful years of love and then marriage.
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As I sat with Eleanor for the two hours listening to her and Tom’s adventures that led up to their wedding day, Tom was napping. I couldn’t help but be totally immersed in their adventure. I confessed that I had always loved adventure and considered myself somewhat of an adventurous person, but truth be told, I had nothing on these two.
She explained how their love began in 1980. Eleanor told me about her days of retiring from school teaching. She explained how Tom had had a hankering for agricultural research. A friend helped them find work in Belize. The two bought a cargo truck and drove the monstrosity all the way from Maryland into Belize and then eventually into Guatemala. For years, the two researched how certain fertilizers worked more efficiently on particular pieces of land with particular crops.
During this time, they also became philanthropists. The two would help female students to finish out their schooling when their families could no longer afford to do so. In the Guatemalan culture, it is customary to remove the female children from school when times are financially difficult. The male children get to remain in school and receive their education. Eleanor said that her and Tom helped almost 20 young ladies get their high school education and remain in contact with a lot of them to this day.
Eleanor and Tom regrettably made the decision to return to the states when they realized their health care needs were changing. It would be a futile fight to try and travel back and forth to receive medical attention, so they had to leave Guatemala for good.
There were lots of of little stories I can’t remember all the details to, but I do know that Eleanor and Tom should write a book. I’d buy a copy and I’m sure it make for some good reading. These two are the coolest of people.
Eleanor & Thomas’ South Texas Wedding
Tom wanted to live in a warm spot, so they ended up in South Texas. I’d say he picked a “warm” spot. On their wedding day—37 years after their love for each other blossomed—it was a recorded warm 103º in San Antonio.
It took a little convincing to get Tom to agree to go outside the air conditioning to take some portraits with Eleanor. I can’t blame him, it was 103º! Wanting to make his new bride happy, he agreed. He didn’t have much patience for me though. I chuckled a little on the inside when I was trying to fix his tie for the portraits and the told me, “Just hurry and take the damn picture.” Tom is a feisty thing! 🙂
Eleanor and Tom are the cutest wedding couple I have ever had the pleasure of photographing in my life!
If you’d like to see more images from Eleanor and Thomas’ South Texas wedding day, please enjoy this video. For the best quality, be sure to change the video player settings to 1080 HD.
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