Lindsay & Ed | Honeymoon Winners

Bride- & Groom-to-be Lindsay Lerner & Ed Barrett told us how, as two teachers, they formed a strong bond and helped each other through both family and environmental challenges. Now they will honeymoon at the Aruba Marriott Resort.

First meeting: On New Year’s Day, while out with her sister.

The Proposal: On their beloved Jersey shore, two weeks before the hurricane.

Backgrounds: She is a kindergarten teacher, he is a special education teacher.

I attended my good friend’s wedding on New Year’s Eve 2010, where I danced all night celebrating and ringing in the New Year. The next day my little sister Alexis asked me to go out with her, and as tired as I was, I could never let her down. We went to a bar called the Wicked Wolf, but the two of us and a group of guys were the only ones there!

It turned out that Alexis knew one of the guys from college. Once our two groups started talking, Ed walked over to me and introduced himself. He tells me now that he knew we would be together forever on that first night we met. Who ever said you can’t find your husband in a bar!

Although most people think my fiancé, Ed, is a Californian surfer, he is a true Jersey boy. Since he and his family are residents of Lavallette, NJ, we have spent many summer days and nights on the beaches of the Jersey Shore. I live in Clark, NJ and sometimes Ed stays with me during the week but, as a special education teacher, he races out of work each Friday in May and June that school is still in session just to soak up every last bit of sun on the beach. He loves this beach so much that he helped the Lavallette Department of Public Works build the town boardwalk a number of years ago.

A Proposal at the Beach

So he naturally wanted to propose to me there among its perfect and serene atmosphere. He originally planned to propose on Sunday, 9.30.12. Instead we attended the Lavallette Anniversary Festival and never made it to the beach. Then, he wanted to propose the following Sunday. However, it rained the whole day. Finally, we went to Lavallette Beach. He handed me a photo album that he made on Shutterfly composed of pictures of me and him and all the important people in our lives. The last page read, “Come grow old with me, the best is yet to be!” Ed was down in the sand on one knee asking me to spend forever with him. It was the happiest day of my life.

We took many pictures that day on Lavallette Beach as a proudly engaged couple. To me, a picture tells a thousand words. But now, after the Lavallette Beach was destroyed from the devastating super storm Sandy, our pictures tell a million words. Ed and I feel very blessed for the time we have spent together and the memories we made on the beaches of the Jersey shore. Every time we look at our beautiful pictures, we vow to do as much as we can to help restore and re-build the area.

It has been a difficult time for all New Jersey residents, but especially for my fiancé and his family. They have not had a home since evacuating on 10.28.12 and it may be six to eight months before they can live in their home again. Through all the sadness and uncertainties, Ed thanks me every day for being his consistent “everything.”

My heart just always feels happy. We’re always laughing, dancing, smiling, rooting for the Giants or the Yankees, and looking forward to seeing each other at the end of a work day. My mom describes Ed as a “gentle soul” and me as an “energetic go-getter” and says our different personalities complement each other nicely.

This past April my father passed away after losing his battle with cancer. My parents were married for 37 years and not seeing him by mom’s side and how sad she was broke my heart. I cried every night for a week. Like my dad to my mom, Ed never left my side once. He kept telling me, “We are going to get through this together and we are going to help your mom get through it too.”

In discovering the extensive flood damage done to Ed’s home from Hurricane Sandy, his parents have been distraught. On top of Ed being upset by the damage too, it hurt him so much to see his parents in pain. Just as he had assured me, I was able to say, “We are going to get through this together and we are going to help your parents get through it as well.”