how we became we

Posted byTara 161 Comments on how we became we

jeff and i met on the playground.
i was in fourth grade.
he was in fifth grade.
i was digging holes in the dirt.
he was doing lord knows what.

i knew about him-his DAD was his TEACHER. and that was really cool. (i was NOT cool)
but you know, i was in fourth grade. i was on his sisters softball team. (i begged for the team to be called the purple unicorns but the blue dragons won out. whatever.)

then i moved away. onto another elementary school. and we didnt meet up again until 9th grade.
we were in drama together. a couple plays together.
i thought he was so cute. and he was taller than me. double bonus.
but i never thought he would like me. i thought he was too cute for me.
but we were friends, kind of. in that nervous flirty weird way.
then we both started mock trial.
and we got partnered up.
he was a lawyer and i was his witness. we had to practice together. a lot.
we started hanging out more with the team. i was a junior, he was a senior.

one day, after practice, he offered to give me a ride home. another girl on the team also asked for a ride home. as he was exiting the parking lot, he said “okay which way do i go?” the other girl said-if you are going to my house go left. i said, if you are going to my house go right.

he went left. so he could get me alone. i remember in that moment knowing something was going to happen.

he drove me home in his blue honda prelude. and dropped me off. NOTHING HAPPENED.
fifteen minutes later the phone rang. and it was him. and he asked me out on a date. it was my first date. i had just turned 16. we decided to go see home alone. when we hung up i screamed and jumped up and down on my bed.

thats when we began. we have been together ever since, minus a month or two due to stupidity.

we went to prom together. we moved away to college together. and at the end of our first year of college, we got pregnant together. with mckenna. i was 17. he was 19.

when those two lines turned blue in our apartment bathroom with me sitting on the toilet and him sitting in the bathtub…everything turned upside down and right side up all at once.

our parents were PISSED. we were so busted. but we all got through it somehow.

we moved back home. i turned 18. we got married. (in vegas at the chapel of the bells) jeff worked as the overnight security guard for our apartment complex, getting us free rent plus $400 a month. he went to a computer training school during the day. he got his first real job at the tender age of 21. his salary was $21k. we were rich.

then came drew when i was 20.
then came nathan when i was 23.
and then anna when i was 26.

4 apartments and 3 houses in 5 cities. 4 jobs and 8 cars.

15 years later and i look back at where we came from and what we have done to get here and it seems like a miracle. we went from teenagers who knew nothing and had nothing to adults who are doing what they always wanted. we are so lucky that we still work together. that we still need each other.

ive been with him half my life. only him. and i truly truly feel that we were destined for each other. it wouldnt and couldnt have happened any other way.

Img_6116copy
jeff and tara circa 1993

Join the Conversation

161 Comments

  2. OMG. I am over here crying, partly because it’s my emo part of the month but also because that was on of the coolest entries I’ve read. Sniff, sniff. Thanks for sharing.

  11. did you graduate HS early? Or did you skip a grade? you were 17 at the end of your first year of college? wow.
    anyway, it was so interesting to read that story. you guys ARE so cute together. i love it. And i totally see your kids faces in that photo of you guys!

  12. wow!! love it, tara!
    that’s a keeper story for your kids to read over and over as they grow up. so happy that you are giving them the best gift ever…a mom and dad madly in love!!

  16. Okay so, I never comment on blogs but I had to post to this one. I love a good romance. Your story was so well written you need to turn it into a page, or at least print it for your kids.
    Isn’t it amazing what the power of love can do in your life?

  22. Love your blog, thanks for being so open. I think all of us women struggle with balance and being happy with ourselves, it’s so nice to feel like there are kindred spirits out there. I also married my boyfriend who I met in 9th grade. We’ve known each other 21 years now and have two kids. We looked at each other last night and said how did we go from being teenagers, to this. Its great and hard and wonderful everyday. I wish for my girls that they’ll be as in love with their husbands 21 years into too. I relate to your story and know that anyone who has that kind of love is living the best life she can hope for. Good for you guys!

  23. How cute are those pics?! We married young too @ 19 and 20. I was ten days shy of my 21st b-day when my oldest was born. Sixteen months later her brother was born. Twenty months later a sister. And almost 3 years after that our only child that was planned made his entrance into our family. I’ve been there…wouldn’t change it for the world though. Happy Monday!

  24. What an incredible, beautiful story… it made me smile. Thank you so much for sharing it! I, too, have been with my husband since we were very young… and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Here’s to many, many, many more years for the two of you!

  25. I just LOVE a great love story! Being so happy in my own marriage, I love to hear how other people are happy in theirs – and how they got from there to here.
    Here’s to the rest of your lives together!
    -megan from sc,ca

  26. Awwww love the story & the pics (WOW Anna looks just like you!!!). I too am married to my HS sweetheart. We got together at 15 & though there were a few week long breakups along the way we have pretty much been together now 20 years… more time then we lived before we knew eachother. I love that we know eachother so well & still there is the occaisonal surprise. :)

    Moriah

  30. I love this post Tara. It gave me goosebumps! I can see how in love you are, truly, you were meant for eachother. I love this photo as well, love how you took it, it is sheer perfection. You are one amazing lady!

  31. Hands down the sweetest “how we met” story I’ve ever heard. Destiny is a great thing. Congrats to the two of you, you know how to make it work. Your kids are very lucky to have such loving parents that are still in love.

  44. Ok, you got me at the “ive been with him half my life”. I am there too and it is the weirdest/happiest/scariest/best feeling in the world. Thanks for sharing your story.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.