Jubilee Newsletter:
Spring & Summer 2007
 What's Love Got to Do with It?
(L-R) Richard & Diane Mills, Sher & George Goumas
More than a great Motown song and movie
about the life of Tina Turner, love’s got a
lot to do with their new Jubilee lives for
several of our residents.
Maybe it’s the widening social circle. Or
the more relaxed lifestyle. Perhaps it’s
just something in the water. Whatever it
is, Cupid is getting his wily way at Jubilee
these days!
Tom and Mary
When Mary Pool went with a friend of hers to
the Sales Center at Jubilee, she was simply going
as a show of support. She ended up becoming
a homeowner. And when she held a garage
sale six months later, she was simply trying
to downsize her household. Ultimately, she
“upsized” some romance.
It was in May of 2005 when Mary first met Tom
Higgins, who, while passing by, stopped in to
check out her garage sale. He continued
to “pass by,” whether it was while Mary
and her friend were relaxing in their
yards or while they participated
in one of the many Jubilee
events. A friendship between
the two began.
“We kept running into
each other at Jubilee
functions, potlucks or
barbeques. Our relationship
was a slow process,” says Mary. “It grew out
of a true friendship.”
Eventually, “running into each other” at social
events, evolved into attending the events
together and love, inevitably, bloomed. On
August 25th, 2006, Tom proposed and they’ve
set the date for April 15, 2007 – Tax Day.
“I chose April 15 because I wanted a spring
wedding,” says Mary. “It just so happened that
the 15th was the first day I felt would work,
although we have been teased about it being
Tax Day.” Of course it’s an anniversary that Tom,
a retired auditor, is not likely to forget.
Diane and Richard
Diane and Richard Mills’ romance was the result
of a chance encounter in 2000. While working
in the South installing gas stations, Richard
attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting in
Benton, Arkansas. Diane, who lived in Benton,
was also at the event, and they briefly chatted.
Five years later, Diane, who was widowed three
years earlier, posted an ad online through a
matchmaking service. While browsing through
profiles, she came across Richard’s and recognized
him. She sent him an email to reintroduce
herself, and they began emailing back and forth.
Three days later they spoke on the phone and it
was, in Diane’s words, “instant chemistry.”
The rest is history. Fast forward
seven months, and Diane and
Richard were married in November
2006 in a sunset ceremony
on a beach in Hawaii. Diane
moved from Arkansas to
Richard’s home in Jubilee and
has been making some fast,
new friends.
“Richard is friends with a number of couples
here and they’ve taken me in like family – it’s
as if they’ve known me their entire lives.
Everyone is so outgoing and friendly and
they’ve helped me to get acquainted with the
area. I’m not sure you could duplicate that in
another community,” says Diane.
Sher and George
Fate seemed bent on getting Sher (Sharon
Thompson) and George Goumas together. Sher’s
daughter had convinced her mother to move
back to the Puget Sound region from Hawaii and,
as a real estate agent, had chosen a home at Jubilee
for Sher to look at. She fell in love with the
community and purchased a home the same day.
But if buying a home wasn’t enough shopping for
one afternoon she visited a car lot later that day
to purchase a car. Who was the salesman who
sold her the car? George, of course.
While writing up the purchase, Sher told George
that she had just purchased a home at Jubilee
and enthusiastically described the community’s
active social calendar. Later, after she had
moved into her new home, George phoned her
to see “how the car was running” and asked
her if she had been to any of the wine and
cheese tastings she had described. Answering
affirmatively, she invited him to the next one.
One year, and numerous Jubilee parties later,
they married.
Sher says the fun at Jubilee is contagious and
“like ripples in a pool” touches everyone who
comes in contact with the community. The
guests at her and George’s wedding reception
were impressed by the friendliness and enthusiasm
of all the Jubilee residents attending and
Sher is convinced that she and George have
found their “utopia”.
Ironically, the story of Sher and Jubilee is one of
life coming around “full circle.” She reminisced
that her father, a developer in the area, once
told her that development in Hawk’s Prairie
“was really going to explode some day.” At the
time, she was itching to leave her hometown
behind her. It clearly rewarded her – and
George — upon her return.
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