Jade & Jamaal
November 18, 2021
Nov 18
2021
TO 9:00 pm
Nov 18
2021
TO 5:00 pm
Melissa first met Jade on the playground in 3rd grade, where they bonded over jump rope and cemented a friendship that would last a lifetime. MANY years & MANY relationships later, Jade called Melissa up to tell her about a new potential boo, but Melissa was skeptical about said potential boo, as she was with all the others. However, upon meeting Jamaal for the first time, she knew he was different.
In her free time, Melissa enjoys eating yummy food, traveling to exotic destinations, watching good TV, and reading thrilling novels—all interests she already shared with Jade, and could now bond over with Jamaal. Although Melissa didn't need another reason to attend their destination wedding, the Guatemalan backdrop was the cherry on top!
Jacqueline first met Jade while working together at a charter school in DC. Even though Jade was skeptical about the new girl, Jacqueline knew Jade was going to be her friend. They got closer the longer they worked together, and very quickly became roommates! Neither expected to find a new best friend in their late 20’s, but they did!
Jacqueline remembers the exact day she met Jamaal. She knew from the way her friend laughed, gushed, and didn’t hold back her feelings that he was the one! Jacqueline had a front row seat to watch their love bloom over the past year and couldn’t be more excited for them to embark on this new chapter.
Jada is Jade's Little Sister. She has nothing to say about her. She is just here so she doesn't get fined.
Anju met Jade just a few days after she was born. Jade was Anju's very first best friend and in many ways the big sister she never had. If Jade said her favorite color was pink, then Anju's favorite color was also pink. Most of Anju's childhood memories include playing school in Jade's basement (in every scenario Jade was the teacher and Anju was the obedient pupil) or trying to learn dances to Destiny's Child in her garage. When Jade called to share the story of how she met Jamaal, Anju knew it was meant to be (a sucker for fairytale happy endings). Anju is beyond happy for her God-sister and her future hubby!!
Anju has a special affinity for hiking, high tea, and equitable access to health care. She also enjoys teaching yoga, runs on the boardwalk, travelling, and holistic birth work. And last, Anju is a plant-mom-to-be and is looking forward to learning some expert tips from The McKenzies!!
Anna met Jade attending high school at McNair through mutual friends and it soon became apparent their bond would be lifelong. Throughout the years, their relationship consisted of unconditional support for each other, laughter, happy tears, sad tears, and countless adventures filled with memories. In the famous words of Mr. Leslie Chow, “But did you die?” summed up most of those experiences. Jade kept her early stages of dating Jamaal very discreet, not wanting to jinx the manifestation of her future husband in any way. The moment Jade revealed her mystery man’s characteristics of patience, understanding, and attentiveness… Anna knew he had potential, because you need a lot of those three for Jade. Ultimately, it was the star alignment from the day they met, which Jamaal gifted Jade, that earned Anna’s confidence in him being Jade’s other half.
In Anna’s spare time she’s usually encouraging her daughter’s peculiar ideas and creations. She also enjoys outdoor adventures as well as sitting back watching documentaries on Netflix. Anna can’t wait to help get the celebration started in Guatemala!!
It's rare that friends of friends become as close as they have. Marissa met Jade after hearing all about her from their mutual best friend. They quickly bonded over a love of all things Target and Starbucks and their friendship has continued to grow over the last two years.
In her free time Marissa enjoys taking zumba and yoga classes, caring for her plant babies, arranging flowers and binging Netflix.
Jennifer and Jade first met in 2014 as Teach for America (TFA) Corps members, where they bonded over their shared desire to bring educational equity to underserved communities. When Jennifer first met Jade she thought, "OMG, who is this beautiful woman signing up to teach our babies?". When Jade first met Jennifer, however, she said, "Who is this girl working so hard all the time? She MUST not have a man". LOL -_- Naturally, the two became roommates shortly after. Jennifer has had the privilege of struggling through the growing pains of adulthood with Jade, whom she affectionately calls "Chi-Chi" and she is so proud of the woman she has become!
Jennifer met Jamaal at a High School Fair that he picked Jade up from one day and upon seeing several bibles in his car, knew he was the perfect man for her. Jamaal is such a peaceful guy and exercises a quiet, yet POWERFUL strength; he truly is the calm to Jade's storm (just ask her students!).
In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys exercising, singing in the church choir, YouTubing self-care videos, and spending quality time with her loved ones (even though she needs a lot of alone time as well). She is excited to return to Guatemala for the wedding because the country really means a lot to her and Jade.
Cori first met Jade while working together at a middle school in Washington, DC and her initial impression was “who is this new lady and why is she telling us what to do?!” She believed there was no way they would be anything besides coworkers! Cori was happy to be proven wrong, though. She and Jade truly bonded for the first time at a food truck festival a few months into the school year and began a more authentic friendship from there. Both true Capricorns, Cori and Jade found lots of commonalities in their work ethic, organization, and love of Starbucks and Target. They have shared some amazing highs and very challenging lows together and each experience has only brought them closer together. Cori believes Jade deserves only the best and has found it in the true happiness, love, and peace she experiences with Jamaal.
Cori is a recovering workaholic learning to prioritize self-care. In her precious free time, she catches up on sleep, binge-watches Netflix, and finds new recipes to cook. She also enjoys spending time with loved ones, buying new plants, and online window shopping (ignore the Amazon packages that keep showing up). This will be her first venture to Guatemala, and she can’t wait to witness this beautiful moment in Jade and Jamaal’s love story!
Amber and Jade began their forever friendship in 6th grade. In high school their bond became even stronger as they spent more and more time together. They indulged in the commonalities they shared i.e. taking care of younger siblings, Caribbean culture, having entrepreneurs as parents, focusing on a relationship with God and everything in between. Jade shared with Amber that her husband was coming and God was telling her to prepare herself and sure enough, the knight in shining Guyanese gold armor himself, Jamaal showed up!
For leisure, Amber enjoys dancing, cooking, expanding her career in healthcare, and hearing about Jade’s testimony of love. She's also anxious for their bi-weekly conversations of great memories to come!
Angela first met Jade at Peabody Hall her freshman year at Temple University. Peabody wasn’t the prettiest of dorms. Angela’s first memory when meeting Jade was hearing her father say “Jade, you’re at Club Med!!” Lol!! From young eighteen-year-olds trying to find their place in this world, to adult women claiming their greatness, Angela has had the honor of bearing witness to Jade’s evolution. Thirteen years of friendship with a lifetime to go.
Angela is a hard worker who has dedicated her life to helping others. In her free time, she enjoys shopping, trying new recipes, and chatting with friends and family. If there is one thing Angela and Jade share, it is their love of food and finding an amazing restaurant.
Ruby initially connected with Jamaal through photography and quickly became one of his best friends! From a trip to Iceland, to shooting a celebrity wedding in New Orleans together, it was always a good time. Jamaal was never more than a phone call away and someone she could count on. Then, one day Jamaal told Ruby about this girl he met by the name of Jade. From the smile on his face, to the way he spoke about her, she knew it was serious and ultimately written in the stars.
Ruby enjoys going to the beach, great food, traveling and dance battles!
At the age of 9, Akina met Jamaal sitting with his mother in a church pew. At first they were rather shy with each other, but eventually bonded over their love of music and an endless list of similarities. For example, they were both January-born (January 8th & 9th) and the only child of single West Indian mothers. They share a Godfather and were both raised Seventh Day Adventist. Through the years, distance created division, but they remained a phone call away, never missing a birthday, a Christmas, or a tough time.
In Akina’s free time, she enjoys listening to podcasts and watching documentaries, old Disney movies, and rom-coms. She also loves jazz and gospel music. Not long ago, Akina realized that Jamaal had become a bit more scarce than usual, then he shared that he’d met an amazing woman and they’d been spending a lot of time together. Akina was skeptical at first , but the more he shared, the less skeptical she became. Shortly after, Akina planned a trip to Maryland to meet the lovely mystery woman, Jade. Instantly, they connected over a love of Disney and skin care. They also share the same birthday and now affectionately refer to each other as “Birthday Twin”. After spending the weekend having endless conversations about life, love, and spirituality, Akina was left without a doubt that Jade was “the one”.
Jade & Jamaal
Save The Date
They came into this world together in the dead of winter in Brooklyn, New York. Jade was born at 8:24 am on January 8, 1990 in downtown Brooklyn and Jamaal was born on 4:46 am on January 9, 1990 in East Flatbush. They couldn't go not even a full 24 hours without being on the same spiritual plane. Jamaal always says he is older, because he was conceived first. Jade came earlier than expected, but on her mother's birthday (along with cousin, Carla who was born 3 hours before her. Jamaal's Best Woman, Akina and her also share the same birthday). Numerology is a crazy thing.
Not only do they share the same birthplace and almost the same birthday, they also share the same last name (no relation, don't worry, they checked!). They were definitely meant to be together. They spent their lives circling one another. Traveling to the same places and living in the same spaces unknowingly for years. It wasn't until November 17, 2019 that the stars finally aligned and they would meet.
Autumn is the time to fall in love with everything. To see heat hibernate and winter begin to take form. Leaves cascading from branches. They've learned the art of letting go. This story starts on a day where scarves had purpose and hands find warmth in one another, where vinyls play and fireplaces roar... where books lined walls and poetry was burgundy and gold.
Camera in hand, he walks in. Skin the color of midnight and eyes discovering possibilities. Creativity finding one another several months ago. She had maneuvered words and he had the ability to capture a thousand moments at a time.
A partnership blossomed from a chance that two artists would begin to draw together.
One week later, they were inseparable. Jade realized very soon this was forever, but was fearful to take a chance. Jamaal always said, "When you are ready for forever, you'll ask for it." Several weeks later, she asked after spending part of Thanksgiving with his family.
Wait.
Be patient.
Be still.
If I could tell myself one thing at 13, at 16, at 18, at every age of my teens and twenties.
Shit, maybe even at 3 or 5 or 8.
It’d be...
Wait.
Be patient.
Be still.
He is out there searching for you. You aren’t ready for him, but you will be.What you won’t have to be is...
a casket for dead men with lost dreams who try to find themselves in your pelvic to feel alive and plant seeds you aren’t willing to carry. You will not have to root yourself and grow in concrete. Defy odds. To matter. To resurrect joy for men on a clear path to destruction. You won’t have to save him. Them. Any. But, yourself.
You will not have to endure their sorrows. Their storms. Their temper tantrums. You will not have to sacrifice your freedom for their idea of love. It isn’t becoming to become a vessel for their pain. To try to raise a man who lacked parents and still blame them for what future he holds. Spending your life with sympathy, shame, guilt from and by men who never learned they have the power to create their lives, who don’t greet this morning with love in their heart, who are intent on being a causality instead of a catalysts.
You will have to learn the difference between helping and self-sacrifice. Between love and obsession. Between stability and complacency. Between protection and possessiveness. Between trust and stupidity. Between a man and an adolescent.
Although growth often meets discomfort, he will not make you uneasy. He will not pry open your heart or legs to break and bruise your insides. He will not put you in situations where you need to post bail or square up with women finding themselves in the man you think you love.
Because you will love yourself to a magnitude that makes any man attempting to court you, come with wisdom and understanding. He will be guided by God. Speak like a Proverb. He will see who you are before you recognize who he will be.Your peace.
And I say this because he found me unexpectedly. And I didn’t think it was possible.
He is more than what I prayed for.
Hoped for.
Could dream of.
Every day with him is a reminder that this world is magical and life is short and time is an illusion.
There are basic stuff that I had been lacking that should be a requirement for every man you date. Communication. Commitment. Courtship.
You are not a bargaining chip.
You are not a punching bag.
You are not a second option.
The man that is in search of you may find you whole or broken or somewhere in between and he will see you for who are and what you will be and know the difference.
Romance isn’t dead, my love.
Unless you choose to kill it by accepting invitations from men who don’t show up, who pretend, who showed you who they were the first time and you tried to change them. And then, wonder why you were short pocketed.
Invest in a man who doesn’t crash when it all falls down. A man whose love language isn’t built on the foundation of abuse, on your broken back, watered by your tears. Don’t bloom your own pain in hopes of being a wife to some half man half loving you half the time.
Wait.
Be patient.
Be still.
Be whole.
Our Ophelia.
You asked me to name her.
Attach to her.
I can’t wait to go home and whisper these words to her.
And only her. I hope Seymour or Gendry or any of the others know there is an abundance of love to go around and not an ounce of envy touches their veins.
I know you’ll water them and speak to them.
But, she is my favorite.
I’ve never seen an orchid stay alive this long in the winter.
Granted, global warming is evident, but you...you, darling...
You have a green thumb. Things are always growing around you. You have a way of showering the people you love with affirmations. Giving them a little sun each day. How I shine brighter... How my rays miss your melanin... You make me golden. I’ve bloomed a little more in your presence... I’ve let my roots spread a little wider... reach a little further. A little more love than I naturally require to survive.
I don’t want to simply sustain this life. You’ve made it impossible to go back.
To settle. To not grow, even in the discomfort and fear and worry.
I will let you love me.
Because you’re healthy.
Because you’re good.
Because before you,
My max on orchid was 7 days.
I’ve killed cactuses and men’s egos and plenty of possible relationships and forevers and I’m certain that an eternity of growing with you would make the galaxies in my almond eyes seem small and time seem simultaneously long and short and this life magical.
I love you something serious.
Something beautiful.
Something real.
I’ve never seen me so healthy in love.
So, I’ll try to not poison it, to not run, to not drag my roots from our garden, but I know you aren’t afraid of my dark, of my sickness, of my ability to ruin things.
You’re good at keeping plants alive.
Especially, the people kind.
You are my favorite.
That’s it.
That’s the poem.
Like I just want to end it there, but can’t.
You make me write poems in bed.
See...
Every morning I glance over as I’m buried because I burrowed in-between the cavity of your arm and chest and I say, “You’re my favorite.” And sometimes you say, “I better be.” Others you say, “You’re my favorite too....”
Always, you swarm me with kisses that make me honey bee fly. 200 and something beats with my four wings.
Our circadian rhythm.
I would have waited 30 more years for this.
But, I’m glad I didn’t have to.
You’re a provision.
An orchard.
Love.
You are my favorite.
That’s it.
That’s the poem.
30. I was afraid of you. I was afraid of what you meant because my life wasn’t where I had imagined. But, it turns out that I’m exactly where I’m suppose to be. Maktub.
I prayed for you.
I prayed before I knew you because I knew you were coming.
And now, that you are here
I think every love poem I’ve ever written was describing you like my body knew you before it knew how to take breath alone.
I am certain that
The reason why our birthdays are a day apart is because God meant for us to do this life together.
So, do these moments with me. The ones that we have in secret when you or I or both of us are frustrated and stressed and disoriented and don’t want to get out of bed, because those are only days, and we’ll have months that lead into years where we say thank you for just having this chance to love.
Happy 30th Birthday, Babe. “Two people destined to be together will always find each other.”
We will make trips to libraries and sanctuaries and as many museums as we can fit in every waking moment that host this love. Travel through storms for adventures we used to take alone... how we were going to settle for pieces of people and drown in hopes and dreams deferred trying to make them the one. Twin Flame, I have resurrected monuments from moments I’ll remember past lifelines and this lifetime I found you waiting to capture all of me with my frantic moods and silliness on my tongue. How I become a child when I’m not feeling well and it seems most days I am awful, but you are strategic in your approach. You know not to come too close when I’m hungry or I’ll gnaw off an arm or a leg or your ego. Men have tried to conquer or tame. Turn me into something they own. They possess. My precious, they smeagol me out.
The lioness in me has spent too many nights in sheep’s clothing. How I sunbathed in failure for fear, so my tan will cast a shadow over this glow. How you scrub aloe on this skin and kiss the layers down to my dermis. How deep is your love? To the marrow of my bone. To medulla of my hair. To the endocardium of my heart. For I love you to the nucleus of your first atom. I took years of heartbreak to master maneuvering this magic. How deep is your love? (I’ll finish this poem in the morning...)
Alexa, play "Comfortable" by H.E.R.
I love you.
Let me start with that as I hear "Ordinary People" play and I realize this is what John had sang of. See, these legends of love give us vision. And, every day you remind me that I am a storyteller and this little life we have made is something beautiful, is what I prayed for, what I wrote about before you had come and literally swept me off of my feet. We are cocooning in this love. We would have done it anyway regardless of this quarantine. God put you here at the right time, just in case I thought he had made any mistakes with my life as if I had made any wrong turns... He gifted you I and I you. How we sound together? Sounds like the moons humming to the ocean. Move for me. Sing for me, my love. Make a tidal. That Hov cries. I can feel the tears coming down my eyes. And although we are trapped in this house, you make room in me. You travel through me and explore new depths of my knowledge, my experience. You time traveller. You neurologist. How you make a science of this... How you learn and understand and question... And love endlessly to MACS0647-JD and back.
#BlackLivesMatter
2021 is definitely our year. We bought our first home! We are getting married. People keep asking, "Why Guatemala?!" Have you met us? We love to travel! We love museums, ruins, great food, and of course, PLANTS! You are in for an experience when our dream wedding comes to life.
We can't wait to see you there. Don't worry, Guatemala is super affordable. Get your passport ready!!! Happy Booking!