Our Story...
Her Story
Wendy Paige Parker was born on a Saturday night, March 4, 1972, in Doylestown, PA. This beautiful baby grew into a fun-loving little girl who loved to entertain everyone with her singing and dancing. All who knew her could feel her zest for life which included spreading love wherever she went…and she did go to a lot of places.
At age 6, she and her family moved from Pennsylvania to West Bend, Wisconsin and then again at age 10 she moved east to a sleepy little town called Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Life would not be complete for Wendy with just dance so a little game of soccer was thrown into the mix. During her first soccer game, her coach Lou Purcaro called out to her “pick it up....Wendy…pick it up”. Wendy did as she was told and she literally reached down and picked up the ball with her hands! That is a definite no-no in soccer so now Wendy was side lined.
It was at this time that she met a little boy named Keith (who just happened to be the coach’s son). Their little girl-little boy conversation developed into a life long friendship. Keith would visit Wendy at her school every day (they went to different schools) and together they would go bike riding, go to St Mary’s carnivals, and visit each other’s houses just to chat. They even went to Wendy’s senior prom together. They were the best of friends! Life goes on and there were many new adventures.
While Keith was in college in Maryland, Wendy went north to college in Massachusetts. After college, Wendy accepted an appointment to the Alvin Ailey Dance School. This was a brief time for Wendy due to a knee injury but she continued to dance. Her love for California happened after visiting Venice Beach with The Grind. At age 22, Wendy took off for California in search of her Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame.
Jump to 2013 when life changed dramatically for Wendy. It all started with a Facebook instant message from Keith…”Can you talk?” Although Keith & Wendy were 3000 miles apart and hadn’t talked in years, their conversation flowed like it had 31 years ago on that little soccer field in Pompton Lakes. At the stroke of midnight, on January 1, 2015, Keith Purcaro got down on one knee and asked his Cinderella to marry him. This life-long friendship of two best friends developed into a true and endearing love.
His Story
On the first day of spring in 1970, Patrice and Lou Purcaro welcomed their first child into the world. Shortly afterwards, they moved out of their small apartment on Midland Ave. and moved into their brand new home at 252 Ackerman Place, Pompton Lakes, N.J. where they lived for the next 30 years raising 4 children, a dog, a few foster children, and anyone else who happened to wonder into their home.
As many young boys do, Keith loved sports, especially soccer. He loved his New York Yankees, but as a soccer fan living in the New York area in the 1970’s, his true passion was for the New York Cosmos. Watching the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, and Georgio Chinaglia taught Keith at a very young age to respect the true beauty of the game. However, little did he know that the most beautiful thing he would ever see on a soccer field was not a side volley into the upper 90 by Pele, or a Chinaglia header out of the air on a corner kick buried into the back of the net. Nope! The most beautiful thing Keith had ever seen on a soccer field occurred on an intramural field in Riverdale N.J. in 1982. Her name was Wendy Parker, and at 12 years old, Keith realized then that there is way more to life than sports! Maybe it was her gorgeous dark hair, her sparkiling brown eyes, or her radiant smile that first attracted Keith to Wendy. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that there was a beauty much deeper and something incredibly special about this girl. Her outward beauty started from within in her heart and was rooted deep within her soul..
Although they attended different schools and had separate circles of friends, Wendy became Keith’s best friend and closest confidant. He loved her deeply, and although they would soon travel their own paths through life and be separated by thousands of miles, Keith carried his love for his dear friend Wendy deep within his heart. He would think about his best childhood friend often, and he would even sometimes wonder…..what if?
As the roller coaster of life continued on, and as is to be expected, challenges and up hill struggles presented themselves. It is during these times when we reach out to those who mean the most to us; to those who truly love us, and that is what Keith did. It was during one of these moments that Keith had an overwhelming need to talk to his best friend. He needed to hear her voice, and he needed to talk to his best friend like they used to, for hours on end. Well, that’s exactly what they did, as if time never existed. As it turned out, they both needed each other at that time, and that phone call changed their lives forever.
There is so much that occurred after that phone call, but to make a long, incredibly wonderful story short, Keith fell madly in love with the beautiful girl he saw on the soccer field 30 years prior. Understanding the incredible gift that life had brought to him, Keith knew that there would be no “what if’s” this time! At the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve, 2015, Keith asked his best friend, his soul mate, and the love of his life to be his wife. She said yes!!! And now, Keith is the luckiest man on earth, and he cannot wait to look into her beautiful eyes on June 25th, 2016 and say “I Do”!