Paul Joseph Haggerty

West Point, 1991

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Mary Roussos on October 20, 1998:

Peter and I met Tricia and Paul at our Engagement Encounter weekend, in Morristown, New Jersey, March 1991. In a room full of couples, we found ourselves seated next to them - such an open, interesting, attractive pair. We instantly connected, on many levels. Paul's great sense of humor, never disparaging; Tricia's openness, candor and outgoing manner; Paul's obvious and evident love for Tricia, and hers for him; their joint goals in life; their single minded and grounded focus on being together and raising a family; all bound us together that weekend. I remember their story of how they met on a vacation in Mexico, and how they knew virtually immediately that they were the ones for each other. I remember how they spent their weekend time together, talking about everything, being in synch on every level. I remember the joy they took in each other, expressed that day so clearly and then throughout the years of their marriage together. Tricia and Paul had their son, Nicholas, about a year before we had our John. I remember Paul's nickname for Nick: "Cool Papa Bell", and I know that Peter, my husband, looked at Paul as someone who personified the loving, involved and engaged father. Their clarity about parenthood made it easier for us to take that step. Our visits since then have been few, but our connection to Paul and Tricia made the miles irrelevant. They have always been friends for life to us as well as role models as parents and as partners.

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