(more photos available at photo link, and for those who just can't get enough of the Loucks-Powell wedding, there's the wedding video )

The dream that changed my life

by Kory Loucks-Powell

It all started with a dream. It wasn’t my dream, though. It was John’s — John Marselis Powell from Glastonbury — my first boyfriend. (No
relation to Journal Inquirer Managing Editor Chris Powell.)

A couple of years ago John had a vivid dream that he was riding with me in my green Volkswagen Beetle heading to the beach listening to
WCCC on the radio in the summer when I was a junior at Glastonbury High School and he was in college. When he woke he looked me up on the
Internet and contacted me.

Since we split up after that short summer I never heard from Marse (his nickname) until I got the email. I was surprised to hear from him
— extremely surprised, because years ago I had been told that he was dead.

A few years after we broke up someone told me three cowboys picked Marse up while he was hitchhiking in Colorado and beat him to death.
Not only was he not killed, but he’s thriving as an executive for the city of San Francisco, playing guitar and writing music for an indie rock group, and is a devoted father to three terrific young adults.

When we stopped seeing each other I was under the impression that he didn’t care much about me. Wrong again. It turns out I was the love of
his life. It was love at first sight for him. For me it was a more gradual process.

Over the past two years we have been transcontinental travelers, seeing each other about every six weeks. The Internet, texting, and cell phones have made the separation a little less onerous, but it hasn’t been easy.

He asked me to marry him last year and we started planning our wedding. After a while it became evident that a big wedding wasn’t what we really wanted, so on Thursday, Oct. 6, we eloped at the old Glastonbury Town Green, close to where we first met.

The night before our elopement I bought my wedding dress at the Glastonbury Goodwill and picked up some white tulips at Whole Foods Market for my wedding bouquet and a boutonniere for Marse. The next day I picked him up at the airport and we went straight to the Glastonbury town clerk’s office to get our marriage license. (These days they don’t require blood tests or even a witness, but you have to get the license in the town or city where you are getting married.)

Then we high-tailed it to Max Amore restaurant in Glastonbury, where we had arranged to meet my friend, JI photographer Jessica Hill, under the
guise of having lunch. When she got there we asked if she would take some photos of us first because we were eloping in half an hour. After the beautiful ceremony with a local justice of the peace, Marse and I drove to Watch Hill, R.I., walked on the beach, and ate dinner at the beautiful Ocean House. The next day we broke the news to our families, who were surprised but delighted for us.

... San Francisco here I come

Now I’m off to San Francisco in January to join my husband and start the next chapter of our lives together.

I found great satisfaction in my five years as a reporter at the Journal Inquirer and developed a deep respect for those who volunteer for public service and work in the newspaper industry.

My most memorable achievement was writing a story that eventually helped change a state law, called “Michelle’s Law,” which requires that police notify the next of kin in a reasonable amount of time in case of a fatality.

Covering the fire set by a man retaliating against his estranged wife in South Windsor in 2009 is another experience that I will never forget.

I also expanded my photography skills and produced video segments for the Journal Inquirer’s website and for a year had a weekly television
cable show on Cox Cable, along with writing many play reviews for area professional and community theaters groups.

This year I had the fantastic opportunity to work full-time as a Living section reporter. How many jobs are there where you get to interview people from all walks of life every day? It wasn’t just the celebrities I enjoyed meeting either. I also loved interviewing local people who shared their stories and achievements with me.

So I’m off to my next adventure. The way I look at it, I was looking for a job when I found this one and I hear that they have lots of arts and theater in San Francisco. I might even try my hand at playwriting. Our long-term plan is to return to Connecticut eventually. So until then, I’ll remember you in my dreams.