Young, Dumb, & Engaged at Nineteen

  Joey and I met as counselors at a Summer camp in June of 2016. He'd been working there for much longer, and I'd just started that year. He was hanging from the rafters of the camp's pavilion in his hammock when he popped his head out after a nap and made eye contact with me. I remember looking up at him and my mind spinning with all of the rumors I'd heard about him; I quickly turned and walked the other way. Joey was crazy-- he was the guy that the girls watched out for, he was extremely charismatic while in his element, a bit of a 'redneck', insanely wild, and way too unpredictable. I'll admit it: he was cute, and his wild nature had me secretly interested, but at the same time, I wasn't about to jump into a relationship with someone like him, so I did my best to ignore him.
  Not long after the moment that we'd seen each other for the first time, he went around telling nearly every male counselor at camp that summer that he was going to marry me. (What a creep, right? Haha!) I had no clue until word finally slipped out that following November from a mutual co-worker. I remember initially feeling extremely shocked that someone like Joey could ever be interested in someone like me, and then I also remember rolling my eyes from even entertaining the idea of Joey and I being together. That same night, he sent me a message on Instagram.
  Those messages on Instagram quickly progressed into long text messages between my college classes and his work schedule, to late-night phone calls that would last until two or three in the morning, all the way to a date that started from 9 o'clock at night until 5 o'clock in the morning. To keep it short and sweet: even though we had a short dating period, I was hooked on Joey, and I knew that meant I was about to experience the worst heartache of my life or the best love story I could have ever imagined. Luckily for me, the outcome has been the latter.
  Not even a month into our relationship, Joey was already telling me things like "I'm going to marry you one day." Things like that should have scared the shit out of me, but for whatever reason, it never did-- I agreed with him; I saw my future with no one but him by my side, I wanted him to be the one I raised a family with one day. I simply just knew I was going to marry him. I loved him already. I do remember looking at him like he was crazy for saying those things, though.
  Five months into our relationship, at 20, he got down on one knee on a late-night walk that we were on, asked me the big question, and I, at 19, said "yes". People thought we were insane-- I thought we were insane.
  Almost three years later, we are two months out from our wedding. It's been one long-ass process, though. I will tell you that. I feel like we have been in one of those dreams where you spend the whole dream trying to get somewhere, but you never seem to reach your destination. It's hard to imagine that it's finally happening-- we're finally getting married two months from yesterday.
  I always cringe at myself when I tell people this story because I feel like it paints Joey and I in this light that's perfect, sweet, and completely blissful. Our story has been far from that. It's been difficult-- extremely difficult at times, actually. There have been so many moments where I thought we wouldn't make it, but love always persevered, somehow.
  If there's one thing I've learned about love, it's that it's a choice. It's not always easy. Love is not always a feeling, it's the difficult choice of choosing to stay when things are hard, simply because you know that an imperfect person is worth the fight. All of those painful nights where I thought we wouldn't make it through, the tears that have been shed through rough patches, and those frustrating times where I could just scream, Joey has always been worth it. Joey and I have shared so many laughs together, so many sweet memories that I'll always hold close in my heart, and such an incredible amount of overall joy. The best way to put it: Joey is my imperfect person, and I am his, and he will always be worth everything that we may face.
  I cannot wait to marry him.

(photo by ashley peterson photography)

kati