Unlikely Love

Pam and Jay say they got together with a little help from country stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood !

Pam was a single mom whose biggest passion was traveling around the country going to Garth's concerts. When Jay asked her out for the first time in 1998, she had to turn him down. "I told him, 'Sorry, this weekend I'm going to see Garth,'" she says.

Even though he wasn't a Garth Brooks fan, Pam asked Jay to go with her to a Garth concert in Memphis. "Of course I said yes because I wanted to get to know her a lot better," he says. Jay became a Garth Brooks fan that night, and from then on, many of their dates included weekend getaways to see Garth and Trisha in concert.

As their love for each other grew, Jay and Pam continued to incorporate Garth and Trisha into their relationship. When Jay proposed to Pam, he said, "'Hey, I've got the new Trisha Yearwood CD you've wanted," Pam says. "I opened it up and there was my ring." The title track on that CD, Where Your Road Leads , was Pam and Jay's first dance at their wedding. Other Garth-and-Trisha touches at the ceremony included a vocalist singing Garth's "To Make You Feel My Love," and the wedding program's cover read: "Where your road leads…I will follow."

Pam and Jay remain faithful fans of Garth and Trisha. As any Garth fan knows, the number seven is very important. "Here we are today seven years later, with seven members of our household, living on Seventh Street, driving a minivan that says 'Garth 7' on the license plate," Pam says.

The first time Michelle saw Chris, he was singing on stage with his band. Their attraction was mutual, but Michelle was shocked to learn that this late-night rocker had another day job—as a cardiologist.

Michelle and Chris began dating, and were together for five years when tragedy struck. While driving home one night in separate cars, Michelle watched helplessly as Chris hit a patch of black ice in the road and lost control of his car. Chris tore an artery in his leg, crushed his pelvis and suffered a spinal cord injury. Doctors told him he would never walk again and placed him in a drug-induced coma. Chris became unrecognizable and ballooned up to over 300 pounds while he was in his coma. For three months, Michelle spent every day by Chris's side until he was transferred to a hospital hours away. She then continued to visit him every weekend. "I didn't want to be home if he died," Michelle says.

Four months after his accident, Chris became conscious. When he was well enough to leave the hospital, Michelle cared for him at home. Four months after getting out of the hospital, Michelle, Chris and his family went on a cruise…and Chris proposed on the deck of the ship!

Their wedding was a year later and, Chris says, "I was determined to walk down that aisle." His hard work in rehab paid off. Chris was able to stand by Michelle's side for their vows.

Were there ever times Chris felt like giving up? "There are times that you want to give up, but she was my strength, my family and friend," Chris says.

"I've never thought of giving up," Michelle says. "I believe in him and that's why I'm here."

Romance was the last thing Jacquie and Ronald were thinking about when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005. Ronald was struggling just to stay alive on the roof of his brother's home. Meanwhile, across town Jacquie was trapped in her house. As the water poured in around her, she broke through drywall and swam to safety.

Ronald and Jacquie both sought shelter in the New Orleans Convention Center where they met and instantly bonded. When they were evacuated from the convention center, they sat together on the plane to Salt Lake City, and by the time it landed they had found love.

Jacquie and Ronald were married just four weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The newlyweds now live in an apartment in Salt Lake City, where they're building a new life together. "This is the first time in a long time that I've been happy," Jacquie says.

When 22-year-old Robert enlisted in the Army and was sent to Iraq, he wanted to serve his country. He never dreamed he'd return with his soul mate.

In Iraq, Robert shared a house in Baghdad with 15 other soldiers. After three months of daily missions and no time to cook or clean, they decided to hire some Iraqi women to help them with the housework. One day when he was on the roof making a phone call, Robert saw one of the women, named Vivian, washing the floor. "We just smiled at each other," he says.

Though Vivian did not speak English and Robert spoke almost no Arabic, they managed to say hello to each other in Arabic. "He was the first American that told me hello," says Vivian. After that, the couple spent the next three months living for the few moments each day that they could see each other.

"Even though we couldn't speak a word of each other's language, I don't think there was ever a moment where we didn't understand each other," Robert says. "I knew Vivian was my soul mate very early on."

When Robert's mission in Iraq ended, he vowed to find a way to get Vivian out of Baghdad and to the United States. After six weeks apart, they were reunited in Jordan; Vivian left everything she knew to be with Robert. Vivian secured a visa to live in the U.S. and she and Robert were married a month later.

"I think God brought together two people from the opposite sides of the world from two completely different cultures, two different ways of life, two different languages, he blessed it, and he put us together, gave us a love that's strong, and let us be happy," Robert says.