This power couple dedicates their life to each other and to the Fallen.
Directed & Edited by: Tamara Boxx for LUXYMOM® | Photography: Tim Gibbons Photography | 1st Camera Assistant & Videographer: Ursula Gibbons | Wardrobe Styling: Tamara Boxx and Libby Romano for LUXYMOM® | Hair: Ada Tabaku | Makeup: Sophia Zizzi
Life – a dance through the ages trying to find balance and happiness. Like everything, life is broken into dualities – heavy and light, right and wrong, Yin and Yang, and many other examples that encompass the golden rule of natural balance.
Love is no different. There are reasons why certain people flow effortlessly together, like a river meeting an ocean.
For those that have suffered loss, you know that the hole left feels like you will never experience joy and light again. For Rosemary Zore, an unthinkable nightmare happened when she was a mere seven years old. Rosemary’s father, Robert L. Zore, tragically lost his life on December 25, 1983 while serving as a police officer for the Miami Police Department.
The impact was swift, the void in her heart was vast – and a spiral effect began. How does a family cope with this loss? How does a young girl ever have optimism and joy after her world falls apart around her? When there is no one to lean on, a sordid web of doubt, withdrawal, and anger develops – and so does the iron wall one puts up for protection.
I think it is safe to say a lot of us have been in this deep moment of despair on some level. Broken, with our minds consumed by thought, it is like being under water – you cannot see or hear clearly.
Imagine standing in a crowded room, screaming at the top of your lungs, and no-one can hear you. They only look past you.
Rosemary, a lovely and soft-spoken woman, navigated those lonely paths mostly alone and with constant doubt of her direction and who and what her mission needed to be.
It could have broken her spirit; it could have made her implode. Yet, through it all, she knew there was something bigger – something or someone to fill that hole. Was such love and healing out there?
When love, real love, comes along after such tragedy, the knee-jerk reaction is to reject or sabotage. Often looking for faults that don’t exist to simply keep yourself from being hurt again. It is all about control – “I control my happiness. I control my future. I will never allow anyone to hurt me.”
It is the slowest and most horrible death by paper cut, to sabotage your own happiness waiting for the bottom to drop out. Luckily, Mike Randall is a most persistent gentleman who could always feel the synergy between them.
“We never know what direction life is going to take – then you start down a road and that road turns dark. You can keep going, or you can go into reverse. Rosemary, I saw her. I saw what she could be – what she needed to be for herself, to be complete,” said Mike.
When he met Rosemary, he was awestruck by her beauty, but really drawn by her tenacity. He could see glimpses of who she really was beyond the surface. Naturally, Rosemary was not too inclined to adventure down a path that she could not control, but in the end – their synergy was perfect.
He was the mirror she could look into without feeling judgement, a safe place to unload all the heavy thoughts, and she is his tender and steady flower – so strong, but so delicate at the same time. It is funny how real synergy works. Sometimes you would never imagine two people so different could line up so well.
This was the beginning of a long road – a road that promised the unconditional and unwavering support she needed. He was the Spring to her Winter, if you will – and she began to find her balance.
“Growing up, it can be intimidating to learn what is important and what is real when you are forced to grow up fast and be independent. Mike always says, “whatever you want to do – we will do it”. He is like this naturally. Even if he doesn’t agree with what someone is saying, he will listen. I needed that. I needed to be pushed to build myself and confidence. He is that person for me,” she smiled tenderly.
It isn’t about the money for me. It is about the feeling of helping families and seeing Rosemary’s vision come to life.
Mike Randall, Fallen Officers
In 2018, Rosemary started the Robert L. Zore Foundation and The Fallen Officers. Both entities are registered 501(c)(3) not for profit organizations that help aid first responders.
“The whole reason I started this foundation was to honor my father’s legacy and to unite our community around our first responders. It has been hard because I had no idea if it would be successful or if we would be overlooked.”
The foundations host various events such as Blues for the Blue; Boots for Badges; the National Mission 2244 Gala; the Blue Bowl; and the latest endeavor, the Legends of Music Concert Series honoring fallen officers and first responders.
These events pull communities together to unite around families that have suffered the same loss as Rosemary. She and Mike are totally unwilling to allow these families to navigate this heartache alone.
“I’ve seen her struggle. She needed a bigger purpose for the love she had for her father and to feel whole. It’s a way to connect again with her father and I’m immensely proud of her because she’s working extremely hard. Now that we help families like Rosemary’s, it is like a drug to me. I cannot express what it feels like to see the smile from a family because we were simply there for them. We lift them. We honor them.”
As Vice President of the organizations, Mike is a believer in always learning and building off of an experience. He molds what he’s learned into something bigger and better by analyzing what he would like to enhance. With Rosemary, he knew these missions were so deeply engrained in her soul that he would move mountains to make achieving success a reality.
Over the last two years, Mike and Rosemary have traveled across the country, challenging folks to “Honor the Blue” and embrace our brave first responders. However, every rose does indeed have its thorn, and they have faced serious challenges in some areas. But this did not deter them from their mission. Being a smaller entity, some can overlook the purpose and focus more on the almighty dollar rather than the mission itself.
“It isn’t about the money for me. It is about the feeling of helping families and seeing Rosemary’s vision come to life,” smiled Mike. “We have been on major news outlets defending our mission because we did not meet or line up with certain affiliations. We are small, but we are mighty, and we will keep going.”
The synergy between Rosemary Zore and Mike Randall is truly something to behold. Mike is right behind her pushing her to see beyond the moment and remember her goal.
For Mike, Rosemary is the steady vision to their purpose and the tender hand that calms him. With a no holds barred attitude and a passion for community, he is unapologetically dedicated to his family.
This contrast between personalities is precisely why Rosemary and Mike are perfect for one another. They complement each another’s weaknesses and highlight their strengths.
Like looking at a beautiful architecture photograph in black and white, you take in the duality between shadows and highlights to see the overall composition and how devastatingly perfect it is.