This Is Our Story... The Beginning Chapters

Parker and I have been dating for five and half years and so many people ask, “How can you date someone for that long?” We hear that question all the time. Well, trust me, if we had started dating at a later stage in our lives, we would have already been married – but nope, not us, we started dating at the ripe ol’ age of 14 and 16. (We’ve talked about it and agree that we will advise our children not to date so young.) Our theory is that you should date to marry – I think that “dating around,” just for fun, teaches divorce – when things get tough, just break up, find someone new, and start over again. Not to mention, it gives away pieces of your life/experiences to other people, which you may or may not like in the future. Pieces that you can’t get back to give/share with your true love. I am NOT saying that I think you should marry your first boy/girlfriend, but you should date people that you would want to marry. Clearly, I’m no expert on marriage or dating, but these are my thoughts, feel free to disagree!

So, the beginning of our story… On the night before I started my freshmen year of high school, Parker said to me, “We should go get ice cream to celebrate your first day of high school.” So I said, “Yeah we should!” A minute later, he replies, “Yeah, that’s what I said… do you want to?” So of course I had to ask my parents (being 14 and all), and since the Morgans went to our church and my parents knew the family, they said ok. The next night, Parker came to get me and asked my dad what time he needed to have me home (it was like 6:30 pm). My dad jokingly said, “Um… I think 7 o’clock would be good.” So, Parker, nervous from meeting my dad, says, “Yes sir, we’ll be back by 7.” My mom interrupts to ask what we are going to do for half an hour and Parker replies, “I don’t know, drive around the block and talk I guess.” Then my dad tells him that he was just kidding and we go on our merry way to get ice cream. Cute story huh? Note: Now, both my parents love Parker probably more than they love me… I’m not even kidding :-)

Well, little did we know that we would one day be planning a life together! Through the last five and half years, both of us have had some tough times. During the first couple of months of our courtship, Parker’s Papa died. I went to his visitation in Roanoke Rapids with some church friends, and I think it was then that I realized that I cared for him more than I thought. Later that year, my mom fell and broke her shoulder, arm, and leg (she was sober, haha!). The next year, Parker’s Granny died and he graduated and moved to college. The following year, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time. In Year 4 I graduated, moved away to college, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time, and my Granddaddy Mark died unexpectedly. Some people pick on us and say that we are bad luck for each other – all these bad things started happening when we started dating, but I prefer to see it as God put us in each other’s lives right before he knew that we were going to need each other.

Here's my family one Christmas at my Grandma's:


His family is my family and mine is his. Weston asks me all the time, “Are you guys ever going to get married?” or “Why do you love him so much?” or “Sis, are you engaged yet?” While I don’t think he quite understands the significance of what he’s asking, I think that he asks because he loves Parker so much – Parker is his friend and his mentor and he loves hanging out with him. Parker went to see him in the hospital every day that he was there until he transferred to Chapel Hill, and then he came on the weekend... I think it’s safe to say that Parker loves him too! Here’s a picture of them playing monopoly with Nurse Kevin at the hospital:


Here are the boys at the beach... Weston was 5 years old in this picture! (Wow!)


Through the years, Parker has become my best friend. We’ve grown in our faith so much, just like we’ve matured from 14/16 year olds to 20/22 year olds. Sure, we have a LONG way to go, and I like to think that we’re just getting started! I know that God has great plans for us and our family! One day, we will get engaged and we will get married. Believe me, when that day comes, the whole world will know about it! I can’t wait!