Our Story
Many of our guests are family, or friends whom we've known for years. Even so, we thought we should share the tale of our small-town romance.
Prologue: Puppy Love
202 8th Street NE
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 5R6
January 2002
Artist's rendition of Jenna and Kenton, circa 2000.
Jenna and Kenton first met in 2000, and began attending McCoy high school together in 2002.
They were friends for years, and mutual crushing was in the air. Kenton, however, was...well...a little "rough around the edges," and thus our star-crossed and forlorn lovers delayed fate for years. Mistakes were made, but rest assured, they get together in the end. (Oops, spoiler alert.)
Chapter 1: Tight and Bright
444 2nd Street, SE
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 0A8
June 2nd, 2012
When we met for the first time...again.
Jenna and Kenton's love story starts with the ingredients of any classic: neon spandex and bad decisions. (Neon spandex being, perhaps, amongst the bad decisions.)
It was 10 years later, and romance was in the air - literally, Jenna's friend Danielle was getting married, and her voice is like an air horn. Jenna, ever the lothario, swept away by the aroma of l'amour (as the French say), whispered (screamed at the top of her lungs) the words every man dreams of hearing: "Ummm, hellloooo, gorgeous?"
Three hours of talking, hugging, and one rejected kiss later (Jenna the rejector), our young-and-in-love protagonists had planted the seeds of affection.
Chapter 2: Grand Central Toenails
67 Brentwood Lane SW
Medicine Hat, AB T1B 0B5
June 16th, 2012
Sometimes in life, a man has little else than his pride and a set of bright blue toenails. The polish was at his toes, and the wind at his back; life was for the living.
It was two weeks later and, after many texts of flirting (Kenton thinks; Jenna disagrees), our fateful lovers met again. Jenna and Kenton's mutual friends had (deliberately and deviously) organized an event that would force our protagonists together. You will be unsurprised to learn it worked.
After some spilled drinks, one impromptu dance session onstage with the Ralph's house band, and some overconfident (but accurate) predictions by Kenton, Jenna kissed Kenton on the dancefloor.
They decided to meet the next day, and alas, despite Jenna's shock at Kenton's toenails, our love story begins in earnest. The pair have spent almost each day together since.
Chapter 3: They Said It
67 Brentwood Lane SW
Medicine Hat, AB T1B 0B5
October 1st, 2012
What can we say? The girl loves her directions.
Jenna and Kenton's relationship progressed quickly, and together, they experienced all the milestones of a budding relationship: first kisses (which, again, this impartial narrator notes was Jenna kissing Kenton), first trips (to Nova Scotia), moving in together and, of course, the first, "I love you."
On September 30th, 2012, Kenton nervously fumbled out the words that made his heart flutter and tummy grumble, "I think I love you, Jenna."
Fate is a cruel mistress, however, and Jenna is a difficult bird to catch. Her response came a day later; she disguised it as a profession of love for the direction "Up," and an unknown Chinese man named, "Yao." Kenton eventually read through the cryptic puzzles, and our star-crossed lovers had said those fateful words.
Chapter 4: They Wrote It
57-091 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731
March 5th, 2013
Kenton is officially BA now.
Chapter 5: To Vancouver and Beyond!
P6 2455 York Ave
Vancouver, BC V6K 1C9
September 1st, 2013
Yes, this actually happened.
Despite only having been together for 8 months, our small-town lovebirds knew they had each found, "The one."
There were no rings, yet, but Jenna and Kenton wanted to show their love for one another. It was Kenton's first tattoo, Jenna's 147, 367th, and they each wrote "I love you," and had the other's handwriting tattooed on their finger.
Kenton knew that was it. Later that week, when our lovers returned home, he put the first payment down on the ring he would give to Jenna one year later.
Chasing a dream, making a new life; the hallmarks of all great love stories. And in September 2013, Jenna and Kenton made a pioneer's trek to the big city in order to make it.
Vancouver, however, is not for everyone - our lovely couple most of all. After seven months, Jenna and Kenton decided that Vancouver was simply not the city for them. It did bring them one piece of joy, though....
Chapter 6: The Proposal
P6 2455 York Ave
Vancouver, BC V6K 1C9
March 16th, 2014
One ring to rule them all. (Lord of the Rings humor.)
If you know Jenna, you know this was never supposed to happen. She would jump up and down, yell and shout, hold her breath until she was blue in the face, and swear to the ends of the Earth she would never get married - it just wasn't going to happen.
But on March 16th, 2014, the impossible happened. Kenton prepared a video of Jenna's closest friends and family, all telling her how amazing she is, and how she should absolutely say yes. And she did!
Epilogue: We'll See You There
Wherever Life Takes us
March 16th, 2014 until We're Old People
In 1922, a young Vaudeville actor named George Burns performed in front of the aspiring actress Gracie Allen. Gracie had heard that George's act, "Burns and Lorraine," were breaking up and, wanting to join the talented Vaudeville actor Billy Lorraine, decided to go backstage. Mistaking George Burns for Lorraine, Gracie asked about forming a team; George, of course, couldn't resist. He let Gracie Allen believe he was Billy Lorraine for three days before confessing his true identity, and begging her to stay.
George, like their audiences, fell deeply, hopelessly in love with Gracie almost immediately. There was a problem, however, and that problem's name was Benny Ryan - Gracie's fiancé. Undeterred, George tried - and failed - on numerous occasions to win Gracie's heart. He would propose to her before shows, after shows, during shows masked as a joke, and pursued her with his every breath.
For four years, from 1922-1926, George Burns carried a $20 wedding with him every single day, every single place he went, just in case Gracie Allen said yes that day. He told his friends, "The ring was very special - the metal band changed colours as it aged in my pocket."
At a Christmas party in 1926, George finally and accidentally won Gracie's hand by making her cry. She told him, "You're the only boy who ever made me cry, and I decided that if you could make me cry, I must really love you."
In 1964, after 38 years of dancing, performing, and loving one another, Gracie Allen died wearing the same $20 wedding band that George carried in his pocket for 4 years - she claimed she never once took it off. In a book he wrote after Gracie's death, George explained their act, and their life together, like this, "Next to Gracie I was wonderful. I told the same joke for 40 years. All I had to do was stand next to her and imagine some of the applause was for me."
We don't always find love where want to, or how we imagined finding it; it doesn't always come fast, or easy. But real love sticks. Real love is buying the only $20 ring you can afford, and carrying it in your pocket every day for four years in the off chance she says yes; real love is making what amounts to millions of dollars by today's standards, and still wearing that same $20 ring for 40 years of your life. Real love is finding happiness just being in the midst of someone else's applause.
Jenna and Kenton's love didn't come quick, or how most do, but they hope it sticks. And they hope you'll come watch them try!
