BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY
Special to the Birmingham Times
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Erica Wright ewright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
TERRY AND LEVORICA TRUSS
Live: Roebuck
Married: June 15, 2013
Met: Summer 2012, on a dating site called Tagged. “I saw [LeVorica’s] profile, decided to message her because she was beautiful, and the first thing she told me was ‘I don’t date younger men’ and I said ‘but I date older women’,” Terry laughed. “So I asked her if I could just talk to her and get to know her…she wouldn’t give me her number at first because of the age difference [six years], so we messaged for a couple of weeks then agreed to meet up.”
“When Terry first wrote me and I saw his profile, he had on these huge black shades that took over his face and I was like I’m not even gonna respond to this man. But he kept messaging me, and finally I asked how old he was because he seemed young, and he told me his age and I said ‘uh-huh, I don’t date children,’ I was real rude,” LeVorica laughed.
But Terry never let up, “and finally, one day I was at Al’s [Deli and Grill on the Southside] and got a message from him and I told him to pull up so that I could finally see who this man was and what he was about,” she said.
First date: September 2012, at Tom Bradford Park in Trussville. “I picked her up and we sat in the car and talked and listened to music trying to feel each other out…we were enjoying each other’s company, but it was only our second time being around each other,” Terry said. “I thought she was beautiful and the more we talked on that date, I realized she was somebody I could see myself being with… [he knew he had] to do whatever it takes to get her.”
LeVorica said the date started off rocky.
“When he came to pick me up and we walked to the car he just jumped in and didn’t open my door,” LeVorica said. “And I just stood there [he didn’t get the hint], so I turned around and started walking back towards my house and then he hopped out asking if I was ‘ok’, and I was like ‘no, you didn’t open my door’, and he apologized… But when we got to the park I noticed he had a little old soul, he was playing smooth jazz and Johnny Taylor, and I told him he didn’t have to play this kind of music because I’m older than him,” she laughed. “We got out the car and walked around the park for hours, it was really a great first date.”
The turn: By January 2013, LeVorica said she knew she could see a future with him. “Terry surprised me and pulled up at my house [on a Sunday morning] and I asked what was going on, and he said, ‘we going to church’. Three weeks later he got baptized and every day he kept asking me how long a couple has to be together to know they want to get married…so I knew marriage was on his mind,” LeVorica remembered.
Terry said he knew he wanted to spend his life with LeVorica and talked with his mom about timing as well. “I told my mom that I’d never felt like this about any other woman and I’d never gone out of my way [like he had been doing]. My mom liked her and told me if I felt like I was ready for it to go for it. I knew I was ready, and I knew it was time.”
The proposal: February 2013, at Terry’s apartment in Roebuck.
“I was pretty nervous about it. She came to the apartment and went into the kitchen, and when she came back I was on my knee with the ring in my hand and asked her would she marry me,” Terry said. “I’m a shy person, and she could see it, she laughed at me and then said ‘yes.’”
“I brought him some food that I made, so I went to put it down in the kitchen, and when I came back out he was in the dark on his knees. He was so nervous he forgot to turn on the lights, he was shaking and jittery, and dropped the ring, and could barely get the words out,” LeVorica said. “It was special because that’s who he is, he’s not a very verbal person, he expresses himself through his actions, but it was so cute and sweet. I was happy. I gave him a big hug and kiss and said ‘yes.’”
The wedding: At Word of Life Faith Church in Midfield, officiated by Bishop Michael Bender. Their colors were red, black and white.
Most memorable for the bride was “when I walked down the aisle and got to him and saw that he had shaved off his hair and his beard, I wanted to turn back around,” LeVorica said. “It was cut so low he almost looked bald, his beard was all gone, I was so sad in a happy moment. I was thinking how could you do that?”
He did it to be devilish because we had talked about it, I told him not to get a haircut, just to get a lineup and definitely don’t mess with his beard. Every time I tell the story I get mad all over again,” she laughed.
Most memorable for the groom was his bride’s serenade. “When she sang ‘I’m Sure It’s You’ by Sheléa Frazier, after we took our vows it melted my heart. When I heard her singing it was just so beautiful, I shed a tear.”
They honeymooned for a week at the cabins in Gatlinburg, Tenn.
“That week was too long,” said LeVorica, but “it was a good long week,” Terry added.
Words of wisdom: “The key is communication…,” LeVorica said. “You have to find [effective] ways to talk and communicate your feelings to each other to have a healthy relationship. You have to keep dating, doing wild and crazy stuff just to have fun, create adventures, you have to have fun with your spouse to keep the spark alive.”
Terry said, “never stop evolving with your spouse, always continue to learn them. Pay attention to them each day, never stop trying to learn who they are, and what they like and don’t like. Always be open to change, it’s a part of life.”
Happily ever after: The Truss’ have a 3-year-old daughter named Beautiful.
LeVorica, 34, is a West End native and E. B. Erwin High School grad. She attended Virginia College in Birmingham, where she earned a cosmetology degree, and works as a Stylist at Beauty by Snow in Hueytown.
Terry, 29, is a Bessemer native and Huffman High School grad, and works as a Customer Solutions Rep for Spire Energy.
LeVorica is now back at work at her job at the salon despite being home early during the pandemic, and Terry continues to work from home as he had been since the onset of COVID-19.
