This is a story of providence – the story of two people who found True Love at WaterFire. I joined the WaterFire family as a volunteer in 2000. That first night I was captivated both by the flames dancing just above the water, and the hypnotic music which filled the air. That magical moment has stayed with me to this day. Precarious flames mere inches from the dark water which could easily extinguish them represented so many things. I can only describe it with one word – Hope. A word that I had not dared to think might apply to me.

Lisa joined WaterFire as a volunteer in 2005. Like me, she wanted to give back to the community and to meet interesting people. And like me, she had all but given up hope of finding that one True Love. . . Little did we know how powerful it is to be part of something so much bigger than ourselves.

Of course, meeting Lisa wasn’t as easy as pie! At first, she was very reserved and pretty much kept to herself. I remember once when we were all building a boat I had teased her about being too slow with the glue. She was quick to respond and played along. Another time the volunteers joined together for a hike in the woods. To this day she claims that I got them all lost. I keep telling her that she was already lost and I helped her find her way. (We still enjoy debating that point).

It wasn’t until the first time I visited her that I realized I had met my one true love. As I walked to my car that night, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

This Christmas, after months of planning, I took her to Celebration, Florida. We rode through the perfectly decorated streets in a vintage vis-a-vis carriage drawn by two majestic white stallions. As we stopped in front of an amazing nativity scene, I knelt down on one knee and asked Lisa to marry me. The hope we both found in the light of WaterFire now fills our life together.

We have had the privilege of being part of so many people’s lives. We feel that we are truly blessed.

This is why we wanted to share our special WaterFire story with all of you.

– Jack Atoyan & Lisa Bedard

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