How it all began
“I’ve loved you so long, I don’t remember what it’s like not to love you.”
Written by Kami
We met a few weeks after I started college at UNCG in 1994 on a Wednesday night. Jon jumped in next to me on the dancefloor at a popular club on West Market Street. We talked and laughed the rest of the night, and then he offered to walk me back to my dorm. All I could hear in my head was my grandmother warning me about boys I would meet in college. I thought he was making it up that he lived in the same dorm, so when he walked me to the door of my room I unlocked the door, quickly said thank you, slammed the door in his face, and locked it. After I ran into him a few days later I realized I was wrong and he had been telling me the truth.
We got to know each other and spent countless hours talking in my dorm room. We connected on many levels and learned everything about each other. I still remember every moment like it was yesterday. There were times when he was talking that I would get so lost in his blue eyes that I couldn’t even hear what he was saying. He was the most gorgeous, charming, funny, perfect guy I had ever met. He and I both even loved Elvis Presley! I knew when I was 18 years old that this was the man I wanted to marry, but it took four years of friendship and a lot of prayers and persistence before we ever started dating.
After my senior year, we dated seriously for two years. I moved to Raleigh to live closer to him and I was sure that we were going to get married. However, he thought he was not ready to settle down so he broke up with me. It broke my heart and was one of the saddest, most difficult times of my life.
A little over a year later, Jon called me and came by my apartment and told me he realized he made the worst mistake of his life, he knew that I was the one, and asked me to take him back. I still loved him, but I wanted to move on with my life because I was still resentful because I had gotten hurt.
He took me out to dinner a few months later and said he was moving to Florida. He said he would cancel all of his plans at that moment, and would not leave if I even showed him one small sign I might still love him. I felt shaken to imagine him not actually being there, with no chance of us ever getting back together again, but I was stubborn so I told him, no, he should go. Then I got in my car, drove away, and cried the whole way home. I have wished so many times over the last 20 years that I would have turned around and run back to him. It was one of those defining moments that changes the trajectory of the rest of your life, and a big mistake.
For years after that, I would think of him and wish I had a way to reach him. No matter what I did, where I went, who I met, he was always there in my heart. He was always the one that got away, the only one I ever truly loved with all my heart and soul, with every ounce of my being. I assumed he had met someone, gotten married, had kids, and lived happily ever after without me.
During this same time, Jon felt the same way. He would think of me all the time, imagine what it would be like if I was there, play songs that reminded him of me, talk about me and how he regretted ever giving me up, and was sure I had found someone and gotten married. But neither one of us ever married, or even came close.
“Once in a while, in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale”
In 2018, I moved back to the Raleigh-Durham area for a new job. I was sitting at my dining room table one night and this overwhelming thought/feeling came over me, that I should reach out to Jon and see what he was up to. What could it hurt? If he was married I would just back off. So I did an internet search. I recognized some of the information that appeared in a search result. For only $27.00 I got access to every email address for everyone in NC with his name. I sent an email out to all the email addresses that might be his and included my phone number.
“It was, without a doubt, the most romantic moment of my life. The real defining moment.”
The next night I was in the grocery store shopping when I got a text from an unknown number that said only, “Check yr email.” I caught my breath, my stomach dropped, and my heart leaped into my throat. I knew right away that it was from Jon - there was no doubt in my mind that he would be impatient and insist that I hurry up and reply to his email response. So I texted back, “I am grocery shopping and I can’t check my email right now.” We started texting each other, and never stopped!
A few weeks later he came over to my apartment to take me out to dinner. It was the first time we had seen each other in 18 years. I was so nervous! But when I answered the door, it was like no time had passed - those same blue eyes and smile greeted me. He followed me into my living room where I turned around and started to chatter nervously. He grabbed me, pulled me close, and kissed me deeply. Then he said, “I missed you, Kami.” It was, without a doubt, the most romantic moment of my life - the real defining moment that changed the trajectory of our lives.
Three years later, Jon proposed to me at Eno River Park, a place that was special to us when we dated 20 years ago.
We hope you will join us on the beach in Emerald Isle just before sunset, on June 9, 2023, to be a part of what happens next.
And the best is yet to come
Enjoy this photo compilation that combines pictures of us in 1998 - 2000 with pictures of us in 2018 - 2022. Use the arrows to scroll through all of them.
Join us!
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Reserve a Room
We have a block of discounted rooms on hold at The Islander, which is where the wedding will take place on Friday evening, June 9, 2023.
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RSVP Today
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Registry
We have set up a honeymoon fund via PayPal instead of a gift registry.