Mimi and Billy, Happily Ever After

Mimi’s world came crashing down in 2007, when her husband, Shawn, was killed in action in Iraq. A young widow, she went to Florida in 2008, to attend a ceremony honoring those fallen heroes from his team and others, whose names were being added to the memorial wall. The ceremony and the year leading up to it had been nothing short of a living nightmare. Mimi didn’t want to go to the ball that followed, but Kelly, a dear friend of hers, insisted that she go and simply wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

At the ball, the software with the table assignments went haywire and the attendees were told to find whatever seat they wished. She and her brother, along with Kelly and her husband seated themselves at a table and were joined by a group of random guys. Billy Ferretti sat directly across from Mimi and turned out to be hysterically funny, helping to lift her spirits and bring her some much-needed laughter and entertainment. The event, which she hadn’t wanted to attend, turned out to be something she needed even more than she knew.

Upon returning home, she emailed Billy, which led to weeks of what seemed like non-stop messaging between them. Billy then hopped in his car and drove from North Carolina to New York, because he felt he just had to see Mimi for the weekend. Before the weekend came to a close, both of them had realized something surprising, they had fallen in love. Now several years later, Billy and Mimi have said, “I do” and have begun living their happily ever after…

Photography by: Jason Boyer and Eva Eastman
on location in McKinney, Texas