The depression. The heartache. The negative thoughts. They hung over a divorced Kelli Hess like a neverending fog, replaying in her mind every day like a song on repeat. No escape existed. One man took her greatest joy away, so she swore she would never trust a man again. 

Tim Birchfield drifted in the same life-sucking fog. Over 19 years of marriage seemed to go down the toilet after the separation occurred around 2020. In his 40s, he, too, thought love would never again become an option — at least not any time soon. 

But one night changed everything for Tim and Kelli.

The heartbreak

A Pennsylvania native, Kelli moved to Appomattox, a town near Lynchburg, after college. A love for music previously led her to obtain a degree within the field and later become a music teacher at Mount Airy Elementary School in nearby Gretna. As a woman in her 20s, the future looked bright, until life abruptly dimmed — her ex-husband’s affair ushered an unforeseen divorce, leaving her devastated.

Tim, on the other hand, grew up in Virginia as an only child. He participated in football, track, karate, and other extracurriculars to remain active, graduating from Gretna High School and later marrying his high school sweetheart at 25 years old. A tragic divorce about 20 years later saw the two separate.

“I was a little depressed from the whole thing.”

The party

Chastity — Kelli’s coworker and Tim’s childhood friend — refused to ignore the pain her friends were experiencing, so she and her husband, Jim, invited them both to a game night in May 2021. Still heartbroken, both obliged. Chastity told Tim about Kelli to pique his interest, but he gave little serious thought to the notion.

That changed when he saw her.

“I was mesmerized at first sight with her,” Tim said. “All my friends were trying to hook me up with other ladies and stuff like that — trying to get me to go to random places. I was like, ‘No, I wanna see what Kelli is all about.’”

Kelli tried not to fall under the same spell. 

“I tried really, really hard not to fall in love with Tim.”

Those efforts failed drastically. They agreed to become “just friends” and hang out, but simply could not stop thinking about one another. One would ask about the activities of the other one day, then the next, and the following day — until both knew they could not fight the truth. They were in love, finding their once-broken hearts mending into something grand.

A secret for the ages

Kelli initially thought the relationship would fail because Tim was 18 years older than her. 

“I felt like that was always just a fear in the back of my mind, but as we continued to hang out, it was like the age difference was never an issue,” Kelli said.

Once Kelli and Tim decided to date, they agreed on one other thing: to keep their relationship a secret due to the age difference, only telling family and close friends. After dating for about a year, they stopped caring about what others thought. Worries turned out to be fruitless anyway because no one could guess the age gap between them. 

“Tim looks fantastic for his age,” Kelli bragged.

Just a coincidence?

Two years into dating, their compatibility told Tim he needed to put a ring on the relationship, so with the help of his friends — Chastity, Jim, Amelia, and Kevin — he conjured up a plan to surprise Kelli.

Huge fans of American rock musician and songwriter Dave Matthews, the couple traveled to see him for the fourth time at a concert in Charlottesville in November 2023 with their friends. The morning of the concert, they visited Matthews’ winery in the city, where Tim found a romantic spot to propose.

“You’re joking,” Kelli uttered in disbelief before running him down in a hug, completely forgetting about the ring for the moment. 

Later that night, their friend pointed out their Airbnb number read 1111. They then looked at the time: exactly 11:11 p.m. The date happened to be Nov. 11. 

“We were blown away,” Kelli said. 

Almost a year later, they married on Aug. 3, 2024. The couple looks back now, knowing every heartache does not last forever — because life grows from what dies.  

“I think you have to keep a positive outlook no matter what’s going on,” Tim said.

Kelli agreed. 

“I would say, for people who have gone through heartbreak in the past and her maybe thinking, ‘I’m never ever going to get married again. I don’t think I could ever be in a relationship ever again.’ No. 1: Time heals. I would always say time heals for sure. And No. 2: just to give love a chance because it does exist.” 

Even for people as different — or similar — as Tim and Kelli.