some things last forever after all...

Austin and I first met sometime throughout high school. We had some of the same friends, and knew each other because our dads were close at our age. Austin would ask me to go riding four wheelers, or simply ride back roads laughing in his big red Chevy. We always had the most fun doing the simplest of things, still do to this day. I even went with him to get his back tattoo way back all those years ago. Austin really liked me back in the day, but silly me. I was so scared to give him a chance because we were such good friends. I asked Austin to be my senior prom date. He accepted, and picked me up in a fancy white sports car. Austin flew down 29 {literally} as I fed him Chick-til-a nuggets because we were so late. I had just finished my senior dance recital and only had time to change into my prom dress. I soon left Danville for college after high school. Austin and I drifted apart as he resented me for not giving him a chance, but that was also about the time I realized how silly I really was for that. By then Austin had his guard up, and was the one that wouldn’t give me a chance. So then it seemed we resented each other and weren’t on the best of terms for awhile. As time passed by, Austin and I just seemed to always find our way back to each other. Through toxic relationships, he was always there to make sure I was okay. I’ll never forget that 1 AM call from Michael that scared me to death when Austin broke his jaw. I remember driving in the pouring down rain to Michaels feeling like it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. We have always been there for each other. No rhyme or reason, just fate I guess. No matter what, even though we weren’t fond of each other at the given time, it was hard to block him out of my life. After multiple years, we ran into each other at my best friends wedding and Austin just had to talk to me. I had a lot of trust issues, but after awhile Austin convinced me into letting him come to Roanoke to take me to dinner at Cheddars. I vividly remember around the same time sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings with my mom for lunch. Austin and I were texting and he told me he had talked to his mom about somebody he couldn’t quit thinking about, and without her even knowing we were talking again said “I already know who it is and that’s Mariah.” He told me that and it blew me away and my mom asked me what was wrong because she could tell something was up. As soon as I filled her in, she started crying, and said “I knew y’all were always meant to be together.” It seems as they were right. After all that we both finally realized we needed to give it a try. After one long, hard year of long distance, I knew it was time for me to move back home from Roanoke. And the rest is history. I cannot wait to for you guys to be apart of the best day ever, the one where I get to marry my very best friend. 🤍