“It’s the kind of story they could make a movie about.” ~ Mike
Mike and I met in 2007 when we were freshmen in high school. He was the new kid who just had to keep talking to me in the halls. We could talk for hours well into the night. There are countless memories of enjoying all the highs and lows of our teen years together. We dated for 2 1/2 years but then parted ways when college, adult life, and family were the main priorities.
7 years passed, when unknown to either of us both Mike and I only went on sporadic dates with other people. There were the few and far-between messages of "hey how's it going?" but nothing concrete. We both experienced family hardships of our own during that time.
Then when I reached out regarding one of Mike's social media posts, that rekindled a friendship in August of 2017. We texted about how we both coped with tragedies, and what life looks like when you must go on. About a month into texting we met up for dinner. Our conversation was fun and easy, but also serious and intentional.
It was SLOW goes for the first few months- only seeing each other maybe once a week and really taking our time. This allowed us to build a firm foundation and had several tough conversations right from the beginning.
Our love and affection grew exponentially as we talked about how much we've changed and needed to experience life on our own. We both share a love for the great outdoors, traveling and exploring, movies, ginger ale, ice cream, wholeheartedly serving others, investing in friends and family, and putting God at the center of our relationship.
There are uncanny similarities that we share in personality traits, likes and pet peeves, and how we process certain situations. But, there is also plenty of balance in our relationship.
Mike likes to think about all the future possibilities, while I want to see through the here and now. I’m a planner and Mike is just go-with-the-flow. He is an upbeat and positive person with a great outlook on things as I tend to be a little more hesitant and need to assess situations. While both loving people from all walks of life, Mike can strike up a conversation with anyone and I’m more reserved and slow to open up.
We got engaged on Saturday, August 31st, 2019 after a whirlwind day spent exploring Cleveland. Mike recreated some of our earlier dates and we reflected on the last 2 years. My Dad, brother, and sister-in-law were all there to capture the magic! It was perfect, and we were so excited to spend the rest of our lives together!
Varian Orchards is actually about 2 miles from where I grew up and only 10 minutes from Mike’s dad’s house. It holds a special place in our hearts as we’ve passed it or stopped for apples numerous times while growing up. It continues to hold meaning as we said our vows to one another and became one on Saturday, August 22, 2020.
Marriage has held a new journey as two broken people have become one in the never-ending hope of being shaped and molded to be more Christ-like. Mike and I came together in a way nothing short of God's prompting and perfect timing. Marriage has shown us more glimpses of what true grace and God’s unconditional love look like.
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