All Caught Up

17 years

Our engagement photo for the paper

John and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on March 21st. 17 years. Wow. That's a really, really long time. I always questioned adults who said time flew by, especially when they talked about years. When I was a kid, especially in high school, one single year seemed to take forever to get through. Now, it seems almost impossible that 17 years have gone by. I love who we have blossomed into, and that our relationship continues to grow stronger.

Our love story is pretty cool. I met John when I was 12 years old. He was dating my older sister. Our parents met and became friends. John and my sister only dated for a couple of months, but our parents' continuing friendship led to John being at several of family parties and get togethers over the years. The first time I remember having a connection was at my other sister and twin brothers' high school graduation party. I had just finished my Junior year, so was 16. John came to the party and we ended up talking for over two hours in the front yard. All of our friends at the party wanted to know who the cute guy was that I was hanging out with. I replied, "That's my sister's old boyfriend." I really didn't think much of it, other than I was surprised we had held such a long conversation. I can't remember what we talked about, just that we talked forever.

Our next connection was a couple of years later. Several of us were going to Athens, GA to hang out. John and my other sister Molly and several friends all went to UGA. I rode all the way to Athens from Augusta with John in his Jeep. Once again, we talked the whole way. I have no idea about what, just that we talked and talked. We went our separate ways in Athens, and I didn't see John again until a few years later. This time, it was on campus at Augusta State University. I was working on my Bachelor's Degree while John was working on his Master's. We bumped into each other several times, and started mountain biking together. John came water skiing with my family several times, and they all started insinuating that something was going on. As far as I was concerned, we were just friends. He asked me to get dinner with him after one of our bike rides and took me to his favorite restaurant. He proceeded to kiss me when we got back to my apartment. I stopped him, thinking, "This is Megan's old boyfriend, I can't do this!" Then I thought, "What if this is the person I'm meant to spend my life with, and I choose not to be with him because he dated my sister when they were 16?" Needless to say, I chose to jump in with both feet. We got married 8 months later.

Our Celebration

Sophie enjoying the cheese plate

Ella and Max working on their dance

Alex making Spring Rolls