Some love stories feel as though they ended long before they began again.
For Jill, this chapter of life is best understood through a phrase she and Todd heard in service: where you put a period, God puts a comma. What once felt complete—first marriages, raising children, and the lives they had already built—was not the end of the story after all. Instead, it became the pause before something neither of them expected: a return to lifelong friendship, a new marriage, and a custom piece that would bring two family histories together in one piece.
For Jill and Todd, friendship came first. Decades before either imagined marriage together. They grew up in the same small town, went to every grade of school together, knew each other their entire lives, and moved through many of life’s early chapters side by side, though never romantically. College took them in different directions: Todd to The University of Tennessee and Jill, as Todd jokingly puts it, to “the community college in Tuscaloosa,” The University of Alabama.
They each married, built families, and stayed in touch over the years, never expecting the story would eventually circle back. That all changed in 2024.
After Todd lost his wife and Jill divorced, life brought them back into one another’s orbit with surprising clarity. Jill had planned to meet a friend in Knoxville for the Alabama v. Tennessee football game and reached out to Todd about tickets. That was when Todd realized Jill was available and quietly asked a mutual high school friend to find out if Jill was amenable to a date.
Three days later, assuming the silence meant Jill was not interested, Todd called their mutual friend to ask why she had said no. That was when he learned there had been a simple mistake—the message had never been passed along. Their friend had forgotten to tell him Jill was interested after all!
Soon after, Todd drove to Atlanta, where Jill was living at the time, and took her to dinner. From there, everything changed. They began dating in October 2024. By January, they were already discussing marriage. On February 11, 2025, Todd proposed in front of Jill’s sorority house in Tuscaloosa.
For Jill, the pace never felt rushed. It felt certain.
“There is an amazing peace and joy that is hard to explain. People who don’t know it, it’s hard to understand it. We believe it’s very much divine timing. You hate the things that get you to a certain point, but it gets you through your journey. We’re meant to be. No doubt in my mind, this is where we are supposed to be.”
She describes this season of life with perspective shaped by experience.
“Where you put a period, God puts a comma. Todd and I joke that this is our last third. The first third was being a student and going to college. The second third was our first marriage and having children. The last third is our new marriage and the rest of our lives.”
Their relationship grew during a year that brought many highs and lows, including their marriage, the loss of Jill’s parents and Todd’s dad, health concerns, and the marriage of Todd’s youngest son. Yet even while describing 2025 as one of the hardest years either had experienced, they never lost sight of what was ahead. That same clarity shaped the custom ring Jill later created here at Kimball’s Jewelers.
Jill had received jewelry from both sides of the family and found herself
holding pieces filled with meaning, but unsure how to wear them. Among them were six diamonds from a very significant piece of jewelry from her mother.
The new design also included a diamond from Todd’s mother, Bobbie. Todd’s father had originally purchased a solitaire ring for her at The Greenbrier in the late 70s, and Bobbie had made it clear she wanted Jill to have it.
Rather than preserve each piece separately, Jill felt drawn to combine them into one ring carrying both family histories together.
When she came to Kimball’s, she sat down with stylist Michaela and laid every piece out, studying possibilities until a design began to emerge. She knew she wanted something traditional, even if matching stones from multiple heirloom pieces would take careful work.
Kimball’s was happy to take on the challenge. And, within about a month, the finished custom ring was complete.
“It’s gorgeous and a lot bigger than I imagined it to be. It was beautiful and an honor to wear it.”
What now sits on her hand is more than a custom ring. It is a joining of two families, two histories, and a season of life neither she nor Todd expected, but both immediately recognized.
Looking ahead, they are focused on something simpler than the year behind them: peace.
Together, they are planning a belated summer honeymoon to South Africa. It is somewhere they had both always wanted to visit, but neither had yet seen. Travel has quickly become part of how they imagine this chapter. Todd puts it simply:
“I’m not doing this marriage thing again, so might as well go somewhere good.”
Even through hardship, Jill remains grounded in the same steady perspective that shaped their journey.
“There’s always going to be something. Todd and I have each other, so it will be okay even if it isn’t. It’s always going to work out the way it’s supposed to. You’ve to have faith, try to do your best, and enjoy it while you’ve got it.”
Their ring reflects exactly that. It represents where each of them have been and how they are choosing what comes next.
Kimball’s Jewelers — where life’s moments shine a little brighter.
