The Story of How I Met My Husband

Today I’m telling the story of How I Met My Husband on a cruise in high school to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary.

The Story of Us

Once upon a time, ten and a half years ago to be exact, a girl met a boy on a cruise. She was from Connecticut – he was from Tennessee. She thought he was handsome – he thought she was cute. They spent six wonderful days getting to know one another and by the end of the cruise – they were inseparable. They sadly hugged goodbye, a few tears were shed on the plane ride home (by her), and the two hoped it wasn’t the last time they’d see each other.

A year later they met again at the beach. When she first saw him, she was overcome with emotion – giddy, happy, excited – her heart skipped a few beats. Another week was spent hand-in-hand, side-by-side, and when it was time to say, “Farewell,” neither could be the first to say it. Their friends and family on the trip knew… they knew that these two were meant to be. Funny how they knew so long ago…

He said this song was their song…

She planned to fly to Tennessee a month later – and she went. Their first official date was to Olive Garden because everything else was closed on campus after they spent way too many hours laughing in his dorm room together. He drove her to Georgia meet one set of parents – and took her to dinner with the other set of parents – because he thought she was something special.

After their long weekend together, she cried a little bit harder boarding the plane home. He made her smile when he booked a trip to Connecticut to visit her the next month. During his visit, they went to a Red Sox game, she took him to meet all of her family and friends – the most important people in her life – and on May 10, 2005, they became “official.” Officially boyfriend and girlfriend. On July 24, 2005, he told her he loved her. She told him he had her heart forever.

Of course their love was new – and young – but they would date long distance for the next year and a half. It was hard to be apart. They saw each other once a month though – and the distance made their relationship oh-so-strong. She decided to transfer to his school. Going to the same school was tough at first…getting used to being around each other all the time was difficult… but they adjusted. And their relationship blossomed into something unbreakable. A few years later, they graduated and moved in together.

Just a month after they signed their first lease, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. They were at one of their favorite vacation spots with her family, in the place where her Grandmother’s ashes had been spread, and the date was August 16, 2008. It thundered and hailed on the beach after he proposed – almost as if her Grandmother in heaven was throwing them the grandest of celebrations. Here is their proposal story.

On October 17, 2009, they were married in Destin, Florida. The day couldn’t have been more perfect.

Wedding Reception from Amy Allender on Vimeo.

Over the last five years, our lives have changed so much. We’ve moved too many times to count, we bought our first house, we had deaths in our families, we lost our jobs, we got new jobs, and we had a birth. The birth of our daughter Annabelle. While it seemed that our lives were perfect together, we didn’t know what we were missing until she was born. Annabelle is a symbol of our love. She is our everything under the sun, moon, and stars.

Our lives are complete with her in it and our story – well it’s still being written.