‘Elesha’s electric blue eyes’ – Jeff’s heart never stood a chance against the girl from Wallburg

It only took Jeff Bissell one round of putt-putt golf to realize that he was in love. He drove four hours to meet the girl he had been talking to on the phone for a couple of weeks. He was determined to see if her beauty matched her charming personality. 

Their first date was simple – just a round of mini-golf, dinner, and a movie – but by hole 6, Jeff was already in love with Elesha. Her bright blue eyes, athletic frame, and a smile that could take your breath away had Jeff’s mind spinning, and his heart doing backflips. 

Jeff spent most of the night building up the courage to kiss Elesha, and when he did, it blew him away. “Right before I kissed her, I saw the sparkle in her eyes that I had never seen before,” he remembered. 

The kiss must have been electric for them both, because after just three months of a long-distance relationship, Jeff asked Elesha to marry him. Six months after that, they got married, and that was 25 years ago. 

Elesha Wall was born in Walburg, North Carolina, and was raised by her parents, Walter and Wonda, along with her older sister, Alice. They instilled in her the values of hard work, family and being strong-willed, which Elesha and Jeff later instilled in their own children. 

Jeff and Elesha are blessed with three children – Hope, who is 27 years old, Gracie, who is 24 years old, and Ethan, who is 16 years old. 

When they started their family, they had a discussion about how they wanted to raise their children. It didn’t take long to decide that Elesha would stay home and raise them. They knew that they would need to make sacrifices to make a one-income home work. 

They both believed that the sacrifices they made would be worth it, and Jeff is confident that they made the right decision. “Elesha was and still is a fantastic mother. She was a natural from the very beginning and knew things about parenting that I had no idea about. She never hesitated to put their needs before her own,” said Jeff. 

Elesha was able to successfully balance pushing the children to do their best while providing loving support. She raised them to be competitive and compassionate; respectful, yet opinionated.

Jeff and Elesha love to travel. Some of their favorite trips include Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and Savannah. They have also had many beach getaways over the years “to the same beach, over and over again,” remembered Jeff. 

One of Jeff’s favorite beach memories took place when Elesha bet him that she was faster than him. They raced up the beach, and Jeff edged out the win. “She was a lot faster than I gave her credit for. I won, but not by much,” said Jeff. 

Some of the classic memories that stand out include “the Mickey Mouse dress,” the time Elesha called Jeff at work from a living room full of fireplace smoke because she didn’t realize that the flue had to be opened before lighting the fire, and the countless hours spent traveling up and down the 85 freeway between visits, always keeping an eye out for a good spot to eat. 

It didn’t take long for Jeff to notice the spark in Elesha’s eyes. That intense energy ran through his body 25 years ago and still flows through his veins. He loved her from the very first day he met her and he still loves her today.

“I will continue to love her until my last day,” said Jeff.