and I was just a little freshman. We were best friends but I knew he would never like me…. the freckled redhead that seemed like his little sister. I mean, that’s just gross right? Who “likes” the girl that seems like their little sister. Nobody. And so even though I liked Michael when I entered high school…. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I remember journaling that “If he just took me to prom… ya know, just as friends…. that would be enough”. Michael was friends with a lot of girls in high school and even though I knew him better than ANY of them….. the thought of us “dating” seemed to be out of the question.
When we were little, our families went on vacations together, he lived at our house in the summer time and we basically grew up together. We were never a part and I don’t remember there ever being a time when I wasn’t close to him. In fact, we were SO CLOSE that started telling people we were COUSINS in middle school! Yea. EVERYONE believed that our moms were sisters…. even though they look nothing alike! Everyone in Caroline County is related to SOMEBODY, but not us… we didn’t have any cousins at school with us so we made up our own! When my mom would pick Michael and me up from school, the secretary would get on the intercom and say “Michael… your aunt is here to pick you up”. We had EVERYONE fooled….. and then we went to high school……..and started dating. You should have heard the rumors! “Did you know that redhead and Michael are going out and they’re RELATED?!!”…. We immediately set them straight.
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Looking back on those first few years of our relationship…. I didn’t know if I was going to MARRY Michael. I mean, I hoped for it…but as a 15 year old girl, I was just excited to be dating the boy voted “Best all Around” in his senior class!! Lucky for me, he wasn’t a normal high school crush… he loved the Lord and he really cared about me. He cared enough about me to deal with my breakdowns when he left for college… he cared enough to drive all the way home from Newport News just to watch the Notebook with me on Valentines day and he cared enough to wait for me. He waited for me to get to college, then he waited another two years for me to finish college….. and then he married me. Until the past 7 months, we had NEVER been in the same place. He was always two steps ahead of me… but he waited…. and I’m so thankful! Being married and sharing my life with him has made EVERYTHING so much easier and I’m loving it! This past weekend we celebrated not only Mothers day, but Michael’s 25th Birthday!! He keeps saying he’s 1/2 way to 50 and I hate that!! However, I am so so thankful that for almost all of those 25 years…. I have been a part of his life. Michael I love you so much….I’m so thankful for you and the way you love me. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t eat dinner, our house would never get vacuumed and I would have quit my business a long time ago. Thank you for being my #1 fan, my encourager and my best friend. Happy 25th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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And let me just say…… it takes a lot of NERVE to post such AWFUL pictures of myself!! I was only in Middle school…… everyone knows the Middle School years are tough!! Don’t judge!
No idea WHAT we were doing……we were even weird way back then. Thank you Lord that I grew out of braces and the extra thick “Bangs” phase!
Thanks for reading!
— Katelyn
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