04/08/2026
I’ve been keeping a little secret 🤫
John proposed and it was the easiest YES of my life. Nothing fancy, just the two of us at home, exactly how it was meant to be 😍.
To celebrate, I’m resharing the love story he talked me into writing with him, because how could I not? After all, love stories are what we do around here. It’s long, but it’s a great story, and I promise it’s worth the read.
I spent years saying I’d never get married again… and then my friend of 30 years showed up and unexpectedly proved it was him all along 🥰.
Life with him is full of love and fun, but above all, it’s peaceful and safe. Here’s to second chances, perfect timing, and choosing each other after all these years. 🥂💍
He designed my ring himself, and apparently there are two more bands coming… he refuses to tell me what they look like. Now I wait until the big day dying of curiosity 😅.
Lindsey (1995) I met this funny obnoxious boy in 6-7th grade. I remember him vividly. We always seemed to cross paths after industrial tech class, better known as shop. Sometime during middle school, he had a serious glow-up. Honestly, we both did. I had a full on crush. There was this magnetic pull I couldn’t explain nor did I understand. I was just a kid, but something about him drew me in.
One day, he decided to walk to my house after school. He wasn’t there long before curiosity, or immaturity, got the best of him. He started rummaging through my underwear drawer. Classic middle school boy behavior, I guess. I wasn’t having it. Despite the massive crush, I kicked him out. No boy was going to embarrass me like that. Of course we remained friends and laugh about it now.
John (1995-1998) Lindsey swears 1995 was the year, and honestly, I agree. I remember thinking there was this undeniable attraction for her, but I was just a kid. I wasn’t cool, not even close, but humor carried me through. The chemistry between us? Undeniable.
And rummaging though the underwear drawer, yeah that happened.
She was stunning, even in seventh grade. And somehow, she’s only grown more beautiful with time.
By ’98, I was still goofy, still immature, still figuring out who I was (still am at 44, honestly). But she… she captivated me. It wasn’t just her beauty, though that was obvious. It was the way she made me feel like a better version of myself just by being near her. I’ve always had a knack for messing things up, and she was no exception.
Lindsey (1999) Junior year. We were 16 or 17 when we decided to skip school one day. We ended up on his couch, making out to “Satellite” by Dave Matthews Band. It was electric, one of those moments that burns itself into your memory. To this day, that song still holds a special place in my heart because of it. I remember thinking, this is it. We’re finally going to explore whatever this thing is.
Nothing came of it, we remained friends.
John (2000) This part isn’t easy to admit. I was reckless, selfish, and spiraling. I was in a bad place, and got into a lot of trouble. But even then, whenever I saw Lindsey, she held a piece of my heart. Her smile, her presence, it all pulled me in.
She was absolutely stunning. Her smile was contagious, and those lips… man, those lips felt like pillows sent straight from heaven. I’ve compared every pair of lips to hers since I was 16 or 17, back when we were making out on my mom’s couch. That moment left a mark. Her lips… they set the standard. Nothing since has quite measured up.
Lindsey (2001-2003) A year after graduation, the universe always full of surprises, stepped in again. I landed a job in retail management, which felt like a lucky break at the time. What I didn’t expect was to find out I’d be working alongside his mom. I absolutely adored her. She was warm, funny, and easy to talk to. Just like him in a lot of ways.
On occasion, he’d stop by to visit her, and our paths would cross. We were both in relationships, both living separate lives. Friends, that’s all it was ever going to be between us. But still, that connection? That pull? Unspoken, undeniable, and always just beneath the surface.
John (2001-2003) I was still wild, still making bad decisions. I used to stop by SteinMart where my mom worked (pretty sure those don’t even exist anymore), and every time I went, I secretly hoped I’d run into Lindsey.
Looking back, it felt like a gravitational pull, I needed to see her. Nothing ever really happened between us, but I’ve come to realize I could’ve talked to her for hours. I loved watching her smile, and she’d flirt back a little, though she was definitely more shy than I was.
There was always a spark between us, something that left me wanting more. But the truth is, I was immature and too wrapped up in myself to appreciate what was right in front of me.
Lindsey (2006) I was newly married and expecting my first child. And if you’ve ever been pregnant, you know those dreams can get vivid, intense, and sometimes downright bizarre.
One night, I had one of those dreams. But it wasn’t about my husband at the time. It was about him. It was so real, so overwhelming, that I actually woke up. I lay there in the dark, stunned, heart racing, thinking, Why him? Why now? I hadn’t seen him, spoken to him, or even thought about him in years.
This was the Myspace era, when everyone was reconnecting with old friends and past lives. I found his profile, and in a moment of bold honesty, I messaged him about the dream. He doesn’t remember me reaching out now but I do. He replied, we laughed, exchanged a few messages, and that was it.
Lindsey (2016) Life moved on. Myspace was a distant memory, and Facebook had taken its place. I was running my own photography business, still do. That’s when he messaged me. He and his wife had just welcomed a baby, and he wanted me to take their newborn photos.
I politely declined, newborns weren’t my specialty, and I genuinely wanted them to have the best. I even sent over a trusted referral. But he wouldn’t hear it. He flat-out refused. Said it had to be me, or, no one else. He was relentless.
So, I gave in. And truthfully? The photos were terrible. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it wasn’t my thing. To this day, I wish he’d listened. Still, somewhere between the swaddles, the awkward poses, and quiet moments, that old, familiar pull lingered.
John (2016)
When my wife and I at the time welcomed our little boy. I knew Lindsey was a photographer, so I reached out about her doing our son's newborn photos. She told me newborn photos weren’t her strongest area, but I was determined. I didn’t take no for an answer.
I didn’t want just photos. I wanted to see her. I needed to know if what I’d felt all those years was real. I needed that reassurance. And the moment I saw her again, I knew.
Sometimes you don’t choose the moment, the moment chooses you. And honestly, you can’t fight fate.
Lindsey (2018-2020) Our paths continued to cross mostly during their family photo sessions. We’d catch up briefly, exchange a few laughs, and then go our separate ways. Then, near the end of 2020, I photographed his sister’s wedding. And something shifted.
In that setting, I saw a side of him I’d never seen before. Gone was the loud, obnoxious, funny guy everyone knew. In his place was someone softer, emotional, present, deeply vulnerable. It caught me completely off guard. I had no idea that version of him even existed. And just like that, the pull, the curiosity, the connection, intensified. I needed to know who that person was.
Crazy how I kept holding onto the idea of us just because the energy felt so raw and magnetic, something I still can’t explain. And the weirdest part? I never told a soul. Me, the queen of oversharing. I guess I always knew it was one sided, so what was there to say? Not even that unforgettable make-out on his couch at sixteen changed anything between us.
John (2020)
I wish I could fully explain what I felt the moment I saw Lindsey at my sister’s wedding. Seeing her in person that day hit differently. I flirted with her more than I probably should have, and all I could think was how I would die a happy man if I could just kiss her right then and there.
The second I laid eyes on her, it was like a rush of emotions I couldn’t control. Every thought I’d ever had about her came flooding back at once. It was unavoidable. I always knew there was a pull, a chemistry I couldn’t quite explain, and standing there in front of her only confirmed it.
My head was everywhere that day. That was the moment I realized I could fall in love with her, deeply and unconditionally. I knew I was finally mature enough to handle her… but there was one problem. We were both married. Unhappily, yes, but married all the same. So I kept every feeling, every thought, every spark to myself and never acted on any of it.
Lindsey (2021) This year was one of the most challenging I’ve ever faced. At the beginning of it, I began the difficult process of ending my 15-year marriage. We chose to keep everything very private until the divorce was finalized.
As fate would have it, a close friend of mine who also went to school with us, works at the dental office he still visits. During one of his appointments, she mentioned my divorce. The moment he left, he called me and asked if it was true. “Not to throw your friend under the bus,” he said, “but she told me everything.”
We ended up talking for a while, catching up on life. That’s when he confided in me that he, too, was deeply unhappy in his marriage and had been thinking about divorce. He even mentioned someone he was interested in, though he admitted it would take time before he could express his feelings to her. We even joked about him participating in a Stranger Session.
I ended our conversation by telling him that when the time is right, whether to walk away or stay, he’ll know. Sometimes clarity comes when we least expect it.
John (2021)
I always knew Lindsey and I would have a connection, no matter what. Our friendship felt solid, safe, like something we could always fall back on. So when I heard the news about her divorce, I practically fell out of the dental chair. The reality hit me all at once: for the first time, it felt possible that we could actually be together.
I reached out as a friend, genuinely wanting to check on her and make sure she was okay. In that conversation, I opened up about how unhappy I was in my own marriage and how long I had been contemplating divorce. I even admitted that I had feelings for someone else, but that it would take time before I could ever show her how I felt. What she didn’t realize was that the person I was talking about… was her.
I told her I wanted to participate in a Stranger Session, but what I didn’t say was that I wanted her to be the stranger on the other side of the camera.
The truth is, I was terrified to change anything about my situation. I didn’t think I had the strength to actually pull the trigger. I didn’t want to disappoint my family. Every one of them has been divorced and remarried multiple times, and I grew up believing that if something could be fixed, you were supposed to fix it. I don’t like giving up on anything, and I stayed for our son.
And then there are the horror stories you hear about divorce. I was convinced that if I went through with it, I’d be dragged through the coals. So I stayed. I stayed even though it meant sacrificing my own happiness, because I wasn’t being honest with myself about what I truly wanted out of life.
For a long time, fear made my decisions for me. And I carried the weight of that every single day.
Lindsey (July 2025) Nearly four years had passed since we last spoke. Now that I think about it, that might have been the longest stretch we’d ever gone without a word between us. Then one day, during my usual doomscrolling, I noticed a like from him on a TikTok video I’d posted. And just like that, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to see how he was doing. Last we spoke he wasn’t in a good head space.
He admitted he was still miserable, still married, but finally began the divorce process. He asked how I was and about the man I’d been dating since my divorce. My relationship had just ended.
I reached out in friendship, nothing more. But something shifted almost immediately in our conversation. I hadn’t expected it, hadn’t gone searching for it. Almost like fate had been quietly orchestrating our reunion all along, waiting for the exact right moment to bring us back together.
That's when his words caught me completely off guard. Out of nowhere: “You know you’ve always had a piece of me,” he said. “With age comes wisdom.” Confused, I asked him to explain. ““It’s embarrassing, really,” he admitted. “You’ve never said anything like that about me. I can remember every single kiss I’ve had from you. You have the softest lips I’ve ever kissed to this day. No Joke!! Ever. Period. End all be all.”
I was sitting there shocked, confused, spiraling. Is this a joke? Is he serious? Because if he is… Then maybe that magnetic thing I could never explain wasn’t one-sided after all.
John (July 2025)
After years of deep self‑reflection and hard work, I finally started to understand who I was and who I wasn’t. I realized I wasn’t broken. I learned to trust my instincts again, to listen to my gut, and to see that failure isn’t the end of anything… It's the beginning of real growth.
When Lindsey reached out to me, I felt the same butterflies I had at sixteen, kissing her on my mom’s couch. When she told me she was single again, and I knew I was beginning the divorce process myself, something in me shifted. There was a sense of urgency, a feeling that if I didn’t tell her how I felt now, I might never get another chance.
So I told her everything. I told her how I had felt for years. I told her I’d spent the last 27 years chasing the memory of her lips. That every woman I ever kissed was compared to that moment we shared as teenagers, and none of them ever came close. Even back then, I could feel there was something rare about her, something I wasn’t mature enough to hold. I knew I would’ve hurt her without meaning to, so the only way I could protect her was by keeping my distance.
This felt like the one chance to finally explore the pull we’d had between us all these years. So I pursued her, unapologetically, with everything I had. I wasn’t about to let the possibility of something this real slip through my fingers again.
The love I have for this woman is unmatched, unparalleled, unrivaled, and completely untouchable. Life has a funny way of aligning things exactly when they’re meant to fall into place.
Never give up…
It’s been 27 years since we were sixteen, ditching school, and making out on his couch. Maybe we were always meant to go our separate ways, to live through the heartbreaks, the lessons, and the growth. To gain the wisdom that only time can offer. To love other people, lose ourselves, find ourselves again. To learn how to stand on our own before ever trying to stand side by side. So that when we found our way back, we’d be the truest versions of ourselves. Ready. Whole. And finally, aligned.
Everything happens for a reason, exactly when it’s meant to. And this? This feels like the moment we were always meant to arrive at. Not forced. Just… right. Like the kind of full-circle you don’t see coming until it’s already wrapped around you. Perfectly imperfect.
