‘I Felt Like the Most Beautiful … Person in the Room, And [I Was in Awe] of the Man I Was Marrying’

BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times

JAMAR AND ALISHIA JONES

Live: Hoover

Married: May 12, 2000

Met: Sept. 29, 1995, outside of Hahnemann Hospital in downtown Philadelphia. Both were freshmen at Temple University and participated in a community choir called Camden Community Singers. Alishia sang in the choir and Jamar played piano for them. One day, Jamar needed a ride from the subway to choir rehearsal and Alishia rode along with the bass player to help him navigate to Jamar’s pickup spot.

Alishia was sitting in the passenger seat when Jamar got in the car and she said– “he definitely had me at hello. I said ‘Hi, my name is Alishia…you go to Temple? Oh, I go to Temple…’ It was small talk until we got to rehearsal, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off me while he was playing the keyboard,” Alishia said.

“After rehearsal that night we went to a little fish fry… and we got a chance to talk. It was small talk, but it was a good conversation and I remember thinking she was going to make a good wife to somebody one day,” Jamar said. “We were only 18, but I did say in that first conversation that I wanted to name my first girl Jamara, and not we have Jamara Jones.”

“It was refreshing because, at 18, he had a good head on his shoulders and I could see myself with him. We exchanged numbers that night and we talked all day every day,” said Alishia.

First date: Spring 1996, at TGI Fridays off the Parkway in Philadelphia.

“We were young and didn’t have a car so we had to take the bus for our first date, but I remember I went to the restroom and when I came back he had put a teddy bear in my seat, and I was thinking where did this come from because I never saw it before that,” Alishia laughed.

Jamar does not recall the teddy bear, “but I do remember going to TGI Fridays on a Saturday afternoon. We started as friends and it unfolded as we moved forward,” he said.

The two became friends over the next two years as both were involved with other people. In the spring of 1997 their relationship took a romantic turn.

The turn: Both were juniors at Temple University and Jamar was a producer for R&B group Boys II Men, and I was dropping out of college “because I thought I was going to be rich,” Jamar laughed. “And Alishia and I were close, and what I liked about Alishia was that she didn’t respond to my [being a local celebrity] like everyone else did… She was not enamored with that and was centrally focused on me,” he said.

“I don’t even think he asked me to be his girl, it was just a natural ebb and flow,” said Alishia.

Jamar and Alisha Jones met in 1995 in Philadelphia where they both attended Temple University. The couple married in 2000. (Provided Photos)

The proposal: Christmas Day 1998, in front of Alishia’s Aunt Julia’s house in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia. The pair had just visited Jamar’s mother and he shared his plans to propose. They were 21 at the time, and his mother thought they were too young for such a big step. Although Jamar was not swayed to alter his plans to propose, he needed the drive to her aunt’s house to release his tension before popping the question.

“…now I was trying to figure out when I was going to propose. We parked at the end of the street and were walking towards her aunt Julia’s house and I stopped and just told Alishia ‘Me and my mom were arguing over this’, and I pulled the ring out and revealed it to her and said ‘Will you marry me?’, and Alishia was so excited she didn’t say yes, she just ran up the steps to the house,” Jamar said.

“I didn’t even let him finish his little speech,” Alishia laughed. “I just started screaming and everybody came running. I said ‘Y’all, I’m engaged!’, and Jamar came in behind me and said ‘You didn’t say ‘yes’, and ran back and hugged and kissed him and said ‘yes’,” Alishia said.

The wedding: At Valley United Methodist Church, in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, officiated by Jamar’s oldest brother, Elder George Jones Jr. Their colors were navy and silver.

Most memorable for the bride was the surprise serenade Jamar played for her during the ceremony.

“Everything was planned, so I knew how the ceremony was supposed to go, but Jamar surprised me and played to me during the ceremony,” Alishia said. “He walked me over to the piano and sat me down, and he sat beside me and played ‘She’s Got A Way About Her’ by Billie Joel while his friend, Charity Fisher, sang the song. I felt like the most beautiful, most important person in the room, and [I was in awe] of the man I was marrying. It was amazing, and 24 years later that moment and memory still gets me emotional,” Alishia said.

Most memorable for the groom was becoming emotional during the ceremony. “My brother, Jerry, who was my best man, kept trying to give me a handkerchief saying ‘here you go, man, you gonna be crying, and I said I aint gonna be crying, and when Alishia finally appeared I looked over to him and said ‘man I need the handkerchief,” Jamar laughed.

The newlyweds honeymooned in Orlando Florida at Disney World. “We were eating lunch on the resort and ‘She’s Got A Way About Her’, by Billie Joel came on and we just looked at each other and smiled,” Jamar recalled.

Words of wisdom: “Don’t sweat the small stuff and always find reasons to laugh,” Alishia said. “And my grandmother told me ‘you can’t be angry and mad while you’re eating so always find a reason to share [joy and happiness] while enjoying a meal together.’”

Jamar said Balance is important, Jamar said. “One of the most important parts of being married is knowing how to be together but apart at the same time. …you have to maintain your individuality simultaneously…,” Jamar said. “Old wisdom says to ‘drink from each other’s cup, but don’t drink from the same cup.’ She quenches my thirst, and I quench hers,” he said.

Happily ever after: The Jones relocated to Hoover, Alabama, in June 2022 for Jamar’s position as executive pastor at The Worship Center Christian Church with locations in Bessemer and Birmingham. They have three children: Jamara, 22, Jada, 20, Jamar Jr., 18.

Alishia, 47, is a North Philadelphia native and attended Temple University [Philly], where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work, and Capella University [online], where she obtained a master’s degree in early childhood education. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and served 12 years in the U.S. Army, and currently a Sargeant First Class [SFC] where she works in human resources for the US Department of the Army.

Jamar, 46, is a Mt. Airy, Philadelphia native who attended Temple University [Philly], where he earned an associate’s degree in jazz arrangement and composition, Ashford University [Mount St. Clair, Iowa] where he obtained a bachelor of arts in management with a concentration in music, and an MBA [master in business administration], The University of Texas at Arlington where he received and a Master’s of Music in jazz piano and is currently pursuing a doctorate in creative arts from the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia. He serves as executive pastor at The Worship Center Christian Church.

“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.

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