Brendan + Vanessa

While their love story didn’t officially begin until 2020, Brendan and Vanessa’s lives had been intertwined long before that.

Growing up together in Trumbull, their paths crossed in countless ways. Vanessa cheered for Brendan’s Trumbull Pop Warner football team, they endured confirmation classes together in the basement of St. Catherine’s church, performed on the same stage for a local production at Pinewood Lake, and walked the same hallways for four years at St. Joe’s High School. They graduated together in 2011, but despite Vanessa sifting through thousands of high school photos, she still can’t find a single picture of the two of them together.

In 2017, their paths briefly crossed again one evening in the Stratford Edge parking lot. Brendan was his usual polite and friendly self, and Vanessa left the encounter thinking he had gotten very cute.

For the next few years, they continued on their separate journeys- Brendan settling into life in Boston, and Vanessa moving between New York and Connecticut. But as fate would have it, their story wasn’t finished.

In late summer 2020, Vanessa met a friend for dinner to discuss her plans to move to Massachusetts- although she didn’t know anyone there, she was eager for a fresh start. A few members of the trusty SJ network worked their magic and decided to play Cupid, sending off a flurry of texts. Within weeks, Vanessa was on her way to Boston to explore nursing schools, with Brendan happily volunteering to show her around, introduce her to the city, and unknowingly become the familiar face that would make Boston feel like home.

What started as a casual tour turned into countless adventures, laughter, and love, proving that the timing was finally just right. Over the next few years, they traveled, discovered new favorite spots, and built a life together in Boston. Along the way, they welcomed a rescue pup named Cinna into their family, adding even more love to their home.