A Texas Fairy Tale

1.2K

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

“I wasn’t even going to go to the party that night, but I decided to stop in for a while. I only spoke with Roccio for a few minutes. The next day I told my mom, ‘I think I met the one,’” said Julian.

“I really didn’t think much about him because we barely spoke to each other at the party, but on our first date when we hardly ate and the conversation just flowed, I started to feel he might be special,” shared Roccio.

Their first date was dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. From that day forward the two saw each other nearly every day. She was a student at  University of Houston, and he was working and attending college at Houston Community College. Both lived at home with their parents.

They were quickly falling head over heels for each other but there was one little setback that almost kept them divided. He and his parents were on work visas from Colombia and with four years in Houston, their visas were set to expire.

“We got a notice to leave within 60 days and we left on day 59,” shared Julian. “We had always assumed he would go back to Colombia,” added Rocio. 

But Julian wasn’t letting go of “the one” and began the process of applying for a student visa.

“It wasn’t easy to get a student visa, basically I had to prove I could pay for all of my college, so my parents got together all their life savings,” explained Julian.

Just before the fall semester started, Julian’s student visa was approved, and he flew back to Houston for college and to continue his relationship with Roccio. While they were dating and attending college, they both held jobs, she at a nursing home while he held a variety of jobs.

As they got to know each other, they both knew they wanted their lives to be of service to others which is part of what made them click so well together. Though they wanted to go into careers serving people, they were young and not sure what career path to choose.

It was then that they decided they would both apply to nursing school at UTMB in Galveston. “We were so surprised and happy when we were accepted,” both shared. 

“We believe God was involved in every step of what we were doing,” shared Julian. 

Then came another dilemma, Roccio lived with her parents in Katy, and he had his own apartment in Houston. Neither of them wanted to commute to Galveston for nursing school so they would need to move. But Roccio did not want to live with him if they weren’t married and Julian didn’t want to go on in separate homes.

“I knew she was the one and I proposed,” shared Julian. She said yes. The two needed to be married within three months if they were to meet their own goal of sharing a household in Galveston at the start of nursing school. 

 They called every parish in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to find a church that would marry the couple without the customary one-year period required for premarital classes. Luck smiled on them when they reached out to St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church in Texas City.

“I had never been to Texas City until then,” said Julian.

“We were introduced to a couple who gave us a rapid version of the courses. We had to meet with them three times a week for our classes while we were working and going to school and we got it done,” explained Roccio.

On July 31, 2015, the couple took their vows with Deacon John officiating at St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church. Their reception was held at Butler’s Courtyard in League City. Shortly after the wedding, nursing classes began for them in Galveston. Their first home together was a one-bedroom apartment in Campeche Cove.

During nursing school there wasn’t enough time in the day to hold jobs, so they were dependent on support from both of their families. “We couldn’t have made it if it weren’t for our families,” shared Roccio. 

Together they picked up photography to bring in some spending money. The two began taking portraits of graduating nursing students. This initial photography business grew to include weddings, parties, and family portraits.

While attending nursing school, the couple realized they liked living in Galveston and hoped to make it their permanent home. 

After graduating with their nursing degrees, both were hired immediately in Galveston. Roccio worked as a nurse at UTMB in geriatrics and Julian was hired to work at Shriners in the Intensive Care Unit.

Their deep desire to serve the less fortunate brought them in touch with The Society of Saint Vincent De Paul of Holy Family Parish in Galveston and they were quickly put to work as volunteers helping those in need.

“The experience we had as volunteers at SSTVDP helped shape our careers as we watched the dedicated volunteers help so many people in need. We were inspired to go into community health, so we applied to get our master’s degrees,” explained Julian. They were both accepted to UTMB’s Family Nurse Practitioner program.

Now, with their master’s degrees, she works as a pediatric orthopedic nurse practitioner at Shriners, and he works for UTMB as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He also spends a lot of his working hours at St. Vincent’s in Galveston providing medical care to many homeless individuals. 

The couple fell in love with each other, learned they had shared values, pursued their joint educational goals, got married, moved to Galveston, fell in love with Galveston, finished undergraduate school added two dogs, went into the medical field, applied for and finished master’s degrees, bought a house in their dream city, Galveston, and now are adding their first baby.

Baby number one is due in May and will be a B.O.I. (Born on the Island). Their son will be surrounded with family love and support.  Julian’s parents will make the trip from Colombia to lend a hand and Roccio’s parents will drive over from Katy.

Their smiles hardly ever leave their faces, and their happiness and joy are contagious. The young couple feels God has led them all along the way opening doors for them to be together and to serve the community as nurse practitioners.