Roy Reid ’88 and Kim Reid ’88

Kim and I met while serving on the Orientation Team together in 1987. We began dating that summer. As Kim approached graduation in spring of 1989, we knew that we were going to get married and I wanted to surprise her with the right moment to ask. I had served as student body president and became friends with Trevor Colbourn, so I knew he had a breakfast before the graduation ceremonies and went there to see him. I asked if he would hand Kim the engagement ring as she crossed the stage, which he agreed to do. Not one to miss a dramatic moment, Dr. Colbourn pulled Kim up to the podium as she walked on stage. Her immediate thought was that she was being recognized for something like “being the 50,000th graduate” or something like that. To her surprise, he pulled out the ring box and said, “Here is something extra special for you today…I believe its a ring.” Needless to say, the surprise worked. Kim and I were married March 10, 1990 and have lived an incredible life together ever since. We’ve been blessed with four wonderful children and built an incredible life in Central Florida, alongside of so many UCF friends and families. Our love story took a turn in 2019 when I was struck down by an acute aortic dissection (my aorta, the largest artery in the body, split open) which should have killed me. Kim is the hero of my story of survival and recovery as she got me to the emergency room in time for the surgeons to fix it (my heart is now comprised of 25% synthetic materials). I was in surgery for six hours, in a coma for a week (with no prognosis for a positive outcome), hospitalized for a month and out of work for six months to recover. She provided me the support, care, love and encouragement to find the fortitude to keep moving forward. Today we live each day as if it might be our last and participate in events that celebrate life, like Track Shack 5K events, together. We live with a renewed purpose to live people, be grateful, give generously and make a difference. So much of that foundation was set when we were students at UCF and worked for people like Jimmie Farrell, Bill Callerman, Pete Fisher, Vic Collazo and others who took a real interest in our lives.