Our story started when we met at the ages of 13 and 14 years old. Vida’s cousin Jose visited them in San Jose and I happened to tag along. There, I laid eyes on Vida for the first time. Unfortunately, she does not remember but I do. Who can forget the name of VIDA… the meaning of LIFE?!


Fast forward, Vida and I led a different path in life… marriage, children, and divorce.


After 30+ years… our paths crossed again. This time, Facebook reconnected us! Our love story started with just a simple message via Messenger from “Hey… do I know you” … to daily calls… daily texts... and eventually to meeting in person (again) after three decades.


At the beginning of our relationship, Vida lived in the East Bay while I was in Central Valley. The distance from each other was difficult. It was also during this time that Vida was undergoing treatment for her cancer and I wanted to provide support and care for her. Luckily, Tony, my boss at that time and my best friend whom I’ve known for over 18+ years knew that Vida and I were inseparable and supported our relationship by assigning me a home office in Walnut Creek. As time passed… Vida and I fell deeper in love and both came to a realization that we can no longer live apart from each other.


Having children of our own, it was important that we get our children’s blessings for our relationship. Thankfully, our four children; Reanamae, Chasity, Rheinan, and AJ got along pretty well and they supported us from the beginning. We eventually decided as a family to live together and create our “blended family” of 4 kids, 2 dogs, and 1 cat. I have to say… we’ve had our hands full since then.


Our journey was definitely not an easy one. In fact, there were many judgments along the way and others tried to break us apart. In the end… our love, our faith in each other and in God… led us both to start our “Love of a Lifetime!”