| Clara Lora Ospina |
Clara M. Lora-Ospina and Kevin McCrea were married yesterday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.
The Rev. John J. Connolly Jr., a Roman Catholic priest, performed the ceremony.
Forum: Weddings and Celebrations
The bride, 32, is a clinical psychologist, conducting research on post-traumatic stress disorder at the Jamaica Plain
campus of the V.A. Boston Health Care system. She is also a jury consultant on civil and criminal cases. She
graduated from Florida International University in Miami and received a master's and a doctorate in clinical
psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
She is the daughter of MarÃa Clara Ospina Hernandez of Bogotá, Colombia, and the late Luis Francisco Lora de
Paula. Her mother is an author of "Profiles in Democracy: New Generation of Latin-American Leaders" (New
Continent, 1995). She is also a syndicated newspaper columnist. The bride's father owned an advertising agency in
Bogotá.
The bridegroom, 38, is a candidate for a city council seat in Boston and owns Wabash Construction there. He is also
a former professional motorcycle racer. He graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.
The bridegroom is a son of Joanne Fitzgerald McCrea of Salem, Mass., and William McCrea of Indianapolis. His
mother retired as a public relations representative at Fidelity Investments in Boston.
Dr. Lora-Ospina and Mr. McCrea became acquainted in the spring of last year through an exchange of e-mail
messages on a craigslist.com discussion group.
"I had posted on the Rants and Raves section looking for moral and emotional support to help me deal with the recent
death of my best friend from cancer," she said.
Mr. McCrea says it was late one night, and he was "just puttering around" online when he came across Dr.
Lora-Ospina's post.
"I responded because I'd recently broken up with a girlfriend and been sort of down," he said. "I told her that I found
one way to get over being down is to go out and help other people. That way you appreciate how lucky you are."
Over the next two weeks, Mr. McCrea continued to check in with Dr. Lora-Ospina. Their exchanges became more
lighthearted, and, Dr. Lora-Ospina said, they would sometimes write "silly things in French" to each other. And then
Mr. McCrea sent her what she called a blunt and honest e-mail message.
"He wrote that he had a lot of friends and was not looking for more and asked if I'd be interested in going on a date,"
she recalled. "I wrote back that I'd be interested" because he sounded honest and interesting, and he spoke French.
They agreed to meet for drinks two days later, a Friday, and Dr. Lora-Ospina took a cousin with her.
After Dr. Lora-Ospina and Mr. McCrea had drinks and established that they had some chemistry, they decided to go
dancing. (Seeing that she was not in the grips of a serial killer, the cousin had the grace to disappear.)
"During the course of that night Kevin offered to teach me to ride a motorcycle," Dr. Lora-Ospina said. "We met on
Sunday morning and rode all afternoon on a muddy course in the rain. It was great."
The following week she went to Miami for her brother's birthdayand asked Mr. McCrea to pick her up at the airport
in Boston when she returned. He did, and surprised her by taking her to dinner.
"By then," Dr. Lora-Ospina said, "I had already told my friends, 'There is something really special about this guy.' "
The Rev. John J. Connolly Jr., a Roman Catholic priest, performed the ceremony.
Forum: Weddings and Celebrations
The bride, 32, is a clinical psychologist, conducting research on post-traumatic stress disorder at the Jamaica Plain
campus of the V.A. Boston Health Care system. She is also a jury consultant on civil and criminal cases. She
graduated from Florida International University in Miami and received a master's and a doctorate in clinical
psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
She is the daughter of MarÃa Clara Ospina Hernandez of Bogotá, Colombia, and the late Luis Francisco Lora de
Paula. Her mother is an author of "Profiles in Democracy: New Generation of Latin-American Leaders" (New
Continent, 1995). She is also a syndicated newspaper columnist. The bride's father owned an advertising agency in
Bogotá.
The bridegroom, 38, is a candidate for a city council seat in Boston and owns Wabash Construction there. He is also
a former professional motorcycle racer. He graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.
The bridegroom is a son of Joanne Fitzgerald McCrea of Salem, Mass., and William McCrea of Indianapolis. His
mother retired as a public relations representative at Fidelity Investments in Boston.
Dr. Lora-Ospina and Mr. McCrea became acquainted in the spring of last year through an exchange of e-mail
messages on a craigslist.com discussion group.
"I had posted on the Rants and Raves section looking for moral and emotional support to help me deal with the recent
death of my best friend from cancer," she said.
Mr. McCrea says it was late one night, and he was "just puttering around" online when he came across Dr.
Lora-Ospina's post.
"I responded because I'd recently broken up with a girlfriend and been sort of down," he said. "I told her that I found
one way to get over being down is to go out and help other people. That way you appreciate how lucky you are."
Over the next two weeks, Mr. McCrea continued to check in with Dr. Lora-Ospina. Their exchanges became more
lighthearted, and, Dr. Lora-Ospina said, they would sometimes write "silly things in French" to each other. And then
Mr. McCrea sent her what she called a blunt and honest e-mail message.
"He wrote that he had a lot of friends and was not looking for more and asked if I'd be interested in going on a date,"
she recalled. "I wrote back that I'd be interested" because he sounded honest and interesting, and he spoke French.
They agreed to meet for drinks two days later, a Friday, and Dr. Lora-Ospina took a cousin with her.
After Dr. Lora-Ospina and Mr. McCrea had drinks and established that they had some chemistry, they decided to go
dancing. (Seeing that she was not in the grips of a serial killer, the cousin had the grace to disappear.)
"During the course of that night Kevin offered to teach me to ride a motorcycle," Dr. Lora-Ospina said. "We met on
Sunday morning and rode all afternoon on a muddy course in the rain. It was great."
The following week she went to Miami for her brother's birthdayand asked Mr. McCrea to pick her up at the airport
in Boston when she returned. He did, and surprised her by taking her to dinner.
"By then," Dr. Lora-Ospina said, "I had already told my friends, 'There is something really special about this guy.' "