Anna and Jason’s Romantic, Rainy Wedding Day

Anna had just moved to the United States from Brazil and was about to start the sixth grade at Wood Middle School, a public school in Maryland with a program for deaf students.

Jason was in the eighth grade. During orientation for the sixth graders, the students split into groups to do arts and crafts projects led by the older students. Anna was in a group that was coloring and painting. At a nearby table, Jason taught another group how to make Origami. Anna had never seen this intricate art of paper folding before and was fascinated by it. She completely neglected her own work and watched as Jason methodically turned a plain piece of white paper into a swan. He noticed that she had been watching, and when he finished making it, he gave Anna the swan.

Anna kept the little paper swan for a long time, but she forgot about it as the years passed. And they wouldn’t see each other again until years later. Jason graduated and went on to high school, later moving with his family to North Carolina, and Anna stayed in Maryland to complete her studies.

In 2005, when they were in college, Jason came to Maryland for the weekend to visit mutual friends, who had also invited Anna to join them for dinner. Anna recognized Jason’s name from school and agreed to meet with them. As soon as they reconnected that weekend in October, they were instantly drawn to each other and started dating shortly thereafter.

While Anna remembered Jason from school, she wouldn’t believe him when he said he remembered her, no matter how much he assured her he did. After all, Jason was the most popular eighth grader, and Anna was a shy, quiet girl from a foreign country. They would tease each other relentlessly, which went on for a while until Jason figured out how to prove that he remembered Anna.

He grabbed a piece of paper and started to fold it while Anna watched, puzzled by what he was doing. When he was done, he made an Origami swan and gave it to Anna. As soon as she took it in her hands, she remembered the swan she had kept for years and who had given it to her.

Anna & Jason added another fold to their love story on October 01, 2023, celebrating their love between lovely family, friends, and Laska, their support dog.