We met and fell in love in the Army. Liz was in-processing at Fort Leonard Wood, MO as a newly trained soldier and Roland was in-processing from Germany. We were assigned to the same Military Police Unit and where our interracial relationship was not approved of. Our Commander told Liz that she wouldn't get her Army Commendation Medal because she "married a Black man." Although she was only 21 years old, she went to the JAG (Judge Advocate General) office and fought for it.

We've had so many memories - good, bad, exciting, scary that it's hard to decide. From the Military to working for the DOJ , activating and inspecting prisons, representing the Agency in hearings, moving from coast to coast numerous times (one with a newborn and two vehicles), to battling breast cancer, mother's dementia, to raising and donating hundreds of thousands. We really enjoy traveling (our favorite was renting a mini-cooper and driving around Italy). We believe in memories over things.

The first thing is to give back - as we love to help others! We would also love to make more memories in Italy, but the money would really help us with some home repairs from when we had helped several people that needed a place to stay and damaged our flooring......We would greatly appreciate anything to help with that - and if there is extra, we would LOVE to travel to Italy again and make more memories!