THE RICHARDS-JOHNSON’S 2024

As we know, I used to work at a well known community child care center. I grew up there physically and professionally, found my passion for teaching and kids, and I was quite the commodity. When I returned to work after moving back from California, there were a lot of new staff but I was immediately intrigued by one girl. But my kids come first! So I had to put my interest to the side. Little did I know our non for profit job was going to have to have us make our own classrooms in the corner of the gym due to space issues. I was skeptical at first but that one thing changed my life. I soon realized Jalah was the real deal. You can tell a lot from a person by the way they teach and care for children as they are the future of this world. I admire her till this day for the way she cares. She was also tall, and gorgeous and smart and driven. And I had never seen her before in my life (or so I thought). I was smitten but would never show it. Our classes became sister classes and as our 3rd and 4th graders became friends, so did we. The connection grew very quickly. Taco Tuesdays after work, sushi while we prepped lessons, car pooling on fieldtrips, all lead up to us being the very best friends. We talked about life in a way I had never been able to with anyone else. Our morals and passions aligned, we basically had the same childhood, we were both forming what we wanted our future to look like at the time. I quickly knew she would be in my life for an eternity even if that meant platonically. Jalah introduced a level of peace and clarity and love I had never experienced before. She was my soulmate. And the rest was history...

Okay, this is how it really happened. For as long as I can remember, I’ve known of Kaylin's existence even despite her not knowing of mine. lol. We both went to the same church and Kaylin was somebody you couldn't really miss. She had a beautiful voice, some beautiful chocolate skin, and the biggest, brightest, most intimidating personality I have ever seen. Which meant for me, being quiet and timid, that I was terrorized of even being in the same room as her. But most of all, I was intrigued, always watching. (not in a creepy way though. lol.) I then proceeded for years to try to add her on every social media I had available to me, just for her to never add me back. Fast forward some years I’m working a job I loved, doing the work I loved to do and we were having a training day. I walk into the building to see the person I have spent my whole life looking at from a distance and admiring and instantly got nervous and scared. Why scared? Because she has one of the biggest and brightest personalities you can ever come across and for some people it can come off a little pushy. But boy was I wrong. From the moment she walked up to my table and said "my friends left me for college and I need new ones" and simply sat down with my group, I knew I had found the love of my life. From the first time we were on the phone talking for hours about everything you could think of, to everyday after work asking her "Soo what are you doing after work?" just to come over and be able to talk more, to standing in the doorways of classrooms just so we could see each other. I knew I had found the person I wanted to spend my life with. I knew from the very first sentence that she spoke to me that my love bug was going to be in my life for the long haul. In any capacity I knew I could make it happen. I have never met somebody who can curse you out with love and a smile on there face and mean it, but also know its in your best interest. I’ve never in my life met another soul so pure, a person so sweet, so kind, and so genuine.