Love through service…
We found Jerry and Val Demings agree on most things, however, the first time they met is not one of them. Jerry says it happened when he was in college in the late 1970’s at Florida State University (she is also a Seminole). Conversely, Val remembers their first encounter happening during an investigation in 1984, her first year on the job. She also said she had no plans to date, much less marry, a police officer. They eventually did date, and were later married in 1988.
Regardless of their different recollections, Jerry says that a common passion to care for the community was what ultimately united them. Val and Jerry have spent most of their lives showing their love of our community in the way they serve and protect it. Jerry Demings is currently the Sheriff of Orange County and previously led as the Police Chief of Orlando Police Department (OPD) from 1998 until 2002. Val served as Chief of Police at OPD from 2007 until 2011 and was just recently sworn in as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Florida’s 10th congressional district.
Jerry and Val have been customers of In Bloom Florist since at least 2011. Jerry often comes in and picks up the custom floral designs he has selected for Val so he can personally deliver the flowers to her. John and I are so humbled that Sheriff Jerry Demings and Congresswoman Val Demings would take a moment to come into our flower shop and be part of our “Love is Love” campaign. They literally visited us between the Congresswoman’s Swearing-In Ceremony and an event immediately following our photo shoot.
When they dropped by to pose for the portrait, it was, quite honestly, a whirlwind of a visit. Every question we asked was briefly answered between camera flashes. As they were exiting, Jerry leaned in and said, “I have something for you. You need to know that we had twins born on Valentine’s Day!” He had a knowing gleam in his eye that illustrated his desire to serve our business- by giving us this sweet inside information. He didn’t share it because of In Bloom Florist — he shared it because we are a member of the Orlando community they love.
Jerry and Val have three children and five grandchildren who all live in Orlando so family life is a big focus for the couple. In addition to family, they are both avid bikers who love their Harley’s. To get away, they take to the back roads of Central Florida on motorcycle — together. Jerry perched on his Screaming Eagle and Val on her shiny red Road King Classic.
This strong couple will have been married for 28 years in March and when we asked Val to tell us in one word to define their love, she simply said, “Solid.” We couldn’t agree more.
“We feel very blessed to have such a sweet and healthy family.”
Liz and Justin were introduced to each other through mutual friends 16 years ago and started hanging out in the group. They soon realized “something was there” and have been together ever since. They will be married twelve years in 2017.
Justin and Liz have been in business together pretty much since they were married. They started off flipping houses together 12 years ago and Liz says that she had the idea all those years ago to make their flipping business into an HGTV show. “Why didn’t we pursue this LOL?!” Liz said she knew back then that she and Justin were good partners, “We have always worked really well as a team and I think that is one of the many reasons our business is successful.” Says Liz. They have owned and run a Real Estate and Property Management Co. together for the last 10 years.
Liz and Justin have 2 beautiful daughters, Sydney (10) and Sophie (6). The girls attend Orangewood Christian School. “We feel blessed sending them to a school where they are nurtured and can learn more about Christ every day.” Says Liz. Both girls are blondes just like their momma, they love gymnastics and being with their friends and family. Sydney LOVES Miss Sally ☺(In Bloom Florist Boss Lady).
“We enjoy being together as a family, anything from Friday night pizza at home to snow skiing trips. We feel very blessed to have such a sweet and healthy family. We are simple and basic and that’s how we roll.”
“I blocked the doorway so he couldn’t leave” ~Roger
Roger and Rob have been together more than 20 years. They met when Roger was working as a DJ at a country-western bar. Roger said he still remembers it like it was yesterday. He saw Rob standing across the dance floor wearing blue jeans and a white shirt with a jacket. He later made his way over and asked Rob to dance. When Rob answered in his english accent, Roger said he was instantly hooked.
They danced one dance and Roger went back to work. Later on he noticed Rob headed to the door. He rushed over and blocked the doorway with his body. “You’re not leaving after just one dance are you?” He asked Rob. And they’ve been dancing ever since. In 2007 they were joined in a civil union and threw a big shindig to celebrate. In 2016 when same sex marriages were finally made legal, they got married and moved to Central Florida. We are glad they did. 🙂
“We deeply cherish one another and will never take a moment for granted.”
Glenn and Claire celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary last year. They are a lovely couple and we enjoyed our photo session with them. During our time together I asked them what word best described their marriage, and they agreed — commitment. We think you’ll enjoy their love story…
How did you two meet?
Claire: We met through a mutual friend in 1992. I was meeting a childhood friend who had just moved to Orlando for dinner. She was working for Barnett Bank and walked in with “a guy” she had just met at work that day, who was also new to Barnett. It was Glenn, as you might guess. I had lived in Orlando since 1983 so I had a broad circle of friends.
Glenn: I was invited to join Claire’s circle of friends, who got together for happy hours, dinner, golf and dinner parties at each other’s homes.
Claire: It was about 3 months later when I had friends (a married couple) visiting me, in my home. They enjoyed fine dining and so I invited Glenn to be my escort/date. I figured he dressed up well and knew which fork to use in a nice restaurant. 🙂
Glenn: The evening was lots of fun and a bit magical, and from that moment on, we’ve been a couple.
What keeps you so committed to one another?
Glenn: When Claire went into labor with our son, Michael, the medical team enlisted heroic efforts to prevent Claire from dying. This experience forever altered our relationship and created a deep bond between the three of us.
Claire: We deeply cherish one another and will never take a moment for granted.
Love is forever.
“He has been a support in ways I never expected.”
Five years ago Angel decided to move to Florida. He was a bit lonely and not feeling great about life. And then Gigio adopted him. The 28 day old Miniature Schnauzer stole his heart and changed his life in a big way. Gigio not only became Angel’s companion on his new journey, but he has been a support in ways Angel never expected.
“After Gigio came into my life, never again did I need anti-anxiety or antidepressants medication, he has changed my life for the better. He is more than just a dog- he’s family!”
Angel and Gigio live in Orlando. Angel is a designer at Walt Disney World. Gigio runs the household.
Love is for the dogs.
“I look up to Kaitlyn not only as a best friend and “sister” but as a huge inspiration.”
These two ladies have participated in our Friday Happy Hours during the past few months. We found they were both business ladies with a love for all things floral- including Flower Crowns. We asked them to be our Galentine’s and they said yes! Enjoy their sweet story of friendship!
Kaitlyn: “Arielle is the sister of my fiancee, Andy. I remember we met a little over three years ago at a Halloween party. I was dressed up as a Bond Girl and she dressed up as a Mermaid. I was nervous meeting her, but once I did and I got to know her, our friendship flourished. Arielle is such an amazing person and artist. Her paintings are hanging on my office walls and she even did a custom quote on the wall too! Her artwork is on Instagram under @Arielle_Christine_Art!”
Arielle: “I look up to Kaitlyn not only as a best friend and “sister” but as a huge inspiration. Kaitlyn is the owner and creative director for a local marketing company called South Street & Co. Her passion and dedication have led her company to grow each and every day. I look forward to calling Kaitlyn my sister-in-law, and watching her grow as a successful business woman.”
Kaitlyn and Arielle were so much fun to work with. They really enjoy one another! We have no doubts they will enjoy many years of laughter, share tears of joy by the buckets, and all the adventures that best friends experience with each other throughout their lives as best friends. We only hope we get to play a small part in some of their future love stories.
Love is for friends.
Love is Love…
Valentine’s Day is an important day in the floral industry. Expressing love, through the beauty and meaning of flowers, is a popular and romantic gesture. At In Bloom Florist, our desire is to help people feel confident in their choices.
During our brainstorming for Valentine’s Day 2017, the idea of creating a “love campaign” with various power couples in Orlando, took root. As we began laying the groundwork we soon realized that we didn’t want to define that love only exists between a man and a woman. With our still tattered hearts from the Pulse Tragedy, we wanted to make sure that we included a full spectrum of love.
Once we started working through the process of determining whom we should ask to represent the power couples, our attention immediately shifted back to where it naturally falls — our customers. We are honored to share the love stories of some of our favorite clients. We hope you enjoy reading their histories below and seeing how their personal portraits seemed to capture their very essence.
“In front of my children and their children, I was able to propose to Kathy.”
Roger has been a customer of In Bloom Florist since 1990, our first year in business. He was also the angel investor who personally helped us start our company. John had been in the flower business since graduating from college in 1977 and was working for Buning The Florist. Roger’s first wife, Pat, worked for John as a designer and salesperson. Both she and Roger really grew to appreciate John’s strong work ethic, loyalty and drive.
Eventually Roger called John and said, “I don’t invest in businesses, but I invest in people. I think you do a great job and I’d love to invest money to help you start your own shop.” Originally, our flower shop was called Orlando Flower Mart located on LB McLeod near Kirkman and Conroy. In 1999 we changed our name to In Bloom Florist and opened a location in Heathrow. We moved our main store to our current Gore Street location in 2009. That’s our love story with Roger. He’s had a couple of great stories of his own.
Roger lost Pat, his lovely bride of 53 years in 2007. He was lucky in love again with the very beautiful (and fun) Kathy. Here is their love story…
How did you two meet?
Roger: “Oh, Kathy will need to tell you this story.”
Kathy: “In 2008, Roger was working out at the YMCA and my friend so happened to be there, too. At some point, Roger asked my friend if she knew anyone who may be interested in going out with him. The friend gave Roger my name and phone number and he called me and we made plans to have lunch together. We quickly scheduled a time and had a long lunch, got along famously and then I never heard from him again.”
(Roger and Kathy start giggling)
Then what happened?
Kathy: “Well, four years later, in 2012, Roger was working out at the YMCA again and…Well, you know what happened. Same friend and same story. My friend reminded him that we had already met and that we had a great lunch, but that I never heard back from him. Roger said he didn’t remember me, so my friend gave him a photo to help him place the memory.”
Roger: “I still carry that photo with me today.”
(He pulls out his wallet to show me the photo)
Kathy: “We met for a four-hour lunch at Tibbys a few days later and had such a great time, we ended up going to Stonewood Grill afterwards for pre-dinner cocktails. We have been together since.”
Tell me about your proposal…
Roger: “It was Christmas morning and I gave her a shoebox I had wrapped. I told her it was just shoes to go with her new dress that she purchased. I told her to put it aside. After all the kids and grandchildren opened their gifts, I handed her the box. I had attached a card to the outside of the box, which, of course, she opened first.”
Kathy: “It was a Dr. Seuss card. On the front of the card it said, “I want to give you lots of hugs”. When you opened it, he wrote, “I want to give you hugs for your life, I want you to marry me and be my wife.”
Roger: “In front of my children and their children, I was able to propose to Kathy. It was a very special moment to have a chance at love again.”
Love wins. Again.
