BY KEISA SHARPE | 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 Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
RICCO AND DENISE MCADORY
Live: Irondale
Married: April 6, 2002
Met: July 1998 at Denise’s home church – First Baptist Church Booker Heights – for a Women’s Day program. That Sunday evening, as Denise sang in the choir and Ricco played the organ, they had no idea their paths would cross. Ricco jokingly said Denise “couldn’t keep her eyes off of him” which she said isn’t exactly true.
They spoke after the program, but there was nothing after that initial meeting, or at least not immediately.
Ricco’s mother and father were also on program at that event where they first met.
First date: About a year after their initial meeting, in 1999, they reconnected again at Denise’s home church. Ricco came back out to play the organ again after visiting from his home church, Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Bessemer that, his dad pastored and although they did exchange numbers and begin conversing occasionally, there were still no sparks the second time around. But by the fall they decided to go on a dinner date. They ate at Olive Garden on Crestwood Boulevard in Irondale (the restaurant is no longer there). Things remained cool between the two while they continued to get to know one another.
The turn: Ricco said he always knew she was the one. Denise just “fit” what he needed in a wife, he said.
Denise, 27, said she’d prayed about a husband and was at the point where she was ready to settle down. Then she received what she believed was a word from the Lord about her future husband – from a complete stranger.
“I worked for a local bank (at the time) and I was actually on the phone with some lady from Texas. Out of the blue she told me God told me to tell you that he is sending you your husband,” recalled Denise. She can’t remember the exact year, but worked for the bank from 1998 – 2002.
Those words came to pass as Denise understood Ricco was her husband after she asked Ricco a very specific question. His answer proved that he was the husband for her, she said. According to Denise, “God told me to ask him, “Who sent you?” To which Ricco said he responded, “The Lord sent me.” That confirmed he was her husband, she said.
Denise also remembered the woman on the phone asked, “Do you have children yet? I was like ‘no,’ and she told me, ‘your first child is going to be a son.’”
The proposal: Ricco went to serve with the United States Navy in 2000 as an electrician’s mate and once the two began dating, it was a whirlwind of events to follow with an engagement and his pressing military duty in the Naval Services.
“I actually asked her on the telephone to marry me …. I was away on military duty aboard the U.S.S Carl Vinson (a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier) stationed in Bremerton, Washington,” said Ricco.
And then they got engaged.
As she thought on the proposal, Denise said “I don’t even think I saw it coming.”
Reality set in after the excitement of the upcoming nuptials. “We dated each other (after the engagement) a month or two before he had to go back on the ship (in Bremerton, Washington),” said Denise.
“We got to know each other, but then, we really didn’t get to know each other as we were going on what God told us,” she said.
Ricco came back home to Birmingham summer 2001, adding, “my family threw me a party and I also had an engagement ring for Denise at that party.” Turns out, it was their engagement celebration, too. And not long after, Ricco went back to military duty aboard the U.S.S Carl Vinson. In fact, Ricco was on the water on Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were bombed.
“The first planes to bomb Afghanistan came off of my ship,” he said.
“So most of our engagement was me being away (on the ship) and technology wasn’t like it was today. The phones on the ship were few and far in between and we had to wait until we pulled into the port (in Bremerton, Washington),” said Ricco. Still, their wedding plans moved forward.
The wedding: Ricco returned home to Birmingham in February 2002 and he and Denise married that April. It was a traditional wedding at the church that Ricco’s father pastored, Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Bessemer. Their colors were lavender and white and they had two groomsmen and two bridesmaids.
Two days after their wedding they embarked on a drive across the country to Bremerton, Washington from Birmingham, being that Ricco was still active military.
He spent another two years traveling back and forth. His wife became pregnant during this time and his first son was born in September 2003. “Most of the pregnancy I was gone – at least eight of nine months,” said Ricco. “And they were telling us we’d be out until after he was born.”
But Ricco said his faith grew in that moment as he believed God to allow him to see his firstborn son. “I accepted the call to ministry April 2003,” said Ricco. “I ministered my first message on that ship.”
And he also made it home to Birmingham in time to see his wife deliver, Ricco Jr. in September 2003.
Words of wisdom: “There’s something about having the right life partner to complement your assignment,” said Ricco.
“I encourage those interested in marriage to become the best version of you that God made. It’s really a covenant that you’re making with this person, and wherever you go, you’re taking that person with you,” he said.
Denise said she believes the success of their 22-year marriage rested in her initially recognizing God’s plan and said simply, “God picked Ricco out for me.”
“Being married to her next to being saved is the best decision I ever made,” said Ricco. And he added for those planning to marry, “spend time with God and allow God to reveal the hearts of your mates more so than their looks.”
“My heart is for this girl, and this girl is for me,” added Ricco, “We keep God in the center and our foundation is strong.”
Happily ever after: Both Ricco and Denise grew up in Birmingham. Denise, 54, graduated in 1988 from West Jefferson High School.
Ricco, 46, is a 1997 Shades Valley High School graduate, and he said he was part of the first class to graduate in that school in his hometown of Irondale. He served four years active duty in the Navy and reserve duty until 2008. He currently works in ministry as an Identity Leadership teacher, author and coach.
Denise works as an administrative coordinator for an insurance company.
The McAdory’s have three children, Ricco Jr. 20; David 18; and Trinity Grace 16.
Both are members of Faith Chapel in the Wylam community.
“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 Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
