Nick Waterman had a feeling about Brianna in high school, but he says he KNEW a decade later when he laid eyes on her and finally got his shot.
He visited her when she returned home from school, they went to a Mariners-Red Sox game, and at long last, they took their first steps toward a relationship, then later marriage and a start to their family.
Nick loves Brianna’s smile and her beauty, which runs much more than skin deep as she radiates to those around her. She is the wife of Nick’s dreams and an unbelievable mother to their daughter Payton (7) and son Alexander (6). Brianna also shines in her career as a dental hygienist.
“She is selfless, generous, smart and funny,” Nick said. “She’s an incredible mother and amazing friend. She’s beautiful and has the most amazing smile.”
Generosity is another key quality that shows up all the time for Nick and the kids. It’s also the subject of one of Nick’s favorite stories about Brianna going back to their time at a Mariners game and, without hesitation, she offered tickets to a mother and son who were mourning the loss of the boy’s father.
Without flinching, she offered tickets to the next game on the schedule and brought a little sunshine to two people who needed that act of kindness. Nick and Brianna sat and talked with them for a while, heard their story and Brianna’s heart went out to them.
Even if Nick has come to expect that kind of generosity from her, he is continuously amazed by it.
“She is loved by anybody who meets her,” he said. “She’s the first to step up to help friends or family.”
Brianna is also the first to step up and bend over backwards for Nick, Payton and Alexander. She is tireless as a parent and stays positive through the ups and downs along the way, which includes holding down the fort while Nick travels for work. Brianna works full-time, too, and gets the job done at home while keeping a smile on her face.
Being a mom is a job she looks destined to do, and she is doing an unbelievable job for Payton and Alexander. The starting point for that, of course, is her default position of putting everyone else first. With Brianna, making sacrifices for her children is just what she does.
“Brianna handles everything, often on her own, and never complains,” Nick said. “She tirelessly parents the children. She’s the first up and last down. Brianna is patient, understanding, loving and selfless.”
Hanging out as a family are some of Nick’s favorite times, and that includes just being with Brianna.
They love just spending time together as a family, going outside, swimming, going to the kids’ sporting events, and spending time at their place in the States. Whatever keeps their family together, Brianna and Nick aim to do it.
Nick knows that Brianna is the one that makes all the good things happen. He says she’s “extremely talented” in her day job as a dental hygienist, but is even better on the home front. Brianna is the wife and mother who plays a vital role for her family, but also as a terrific daughter to her parents, Rob and Karen, and sibling to Jared and Jenna.
“She’s the rock of the family,” Jenna said. “She’s the first person I go to for advice or call to share news, good or bad. They say you can’t choose your family, but I feel truly blessed to call her my sister.”
“She always has your back,” her parents said. “She’s inquisitive, and nothing holds her down. She is creative and artistic, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind. She’s always striving to be her best at home or work. Brianna’s also affectionate and a caring mom and wife.”
“I admire her heart and the way she puts everyone ahead of herself,” Nick said. “I also admire the mother she has become, the rock she is for her entire family, her intelligence, her work ethic, and her laugh.”
All of these good things are done without any fanfare or, as Nick says, without Brianna even stopping to realize just how important she is to her family. Nick couldn’t fully put that impact into words, but he can start by saying, “Thank you.”
From high school to “knowing” that Brianna was the one when she came home and saw her face for the first time in years, she has only continued to blow him away. Nick might have had a sense of how much he would come to love her at the time, but he couldn’t have imagined how good life would be.
“We are the most blessed family in the world to have her in our life,” Nick said. “She is the wolf to so many people I don’t think she even knows.”
“She’s the Wanda to my Maryanne and if you need to die, I’ll help her,” her best friend Tiffany said.
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