She had always wanted to get married and have children. For as long as Joanne could remember, that is where she wanted to end up. She was certain that it would be a fairy tale and that love was like all the books said. But after kissing many toads, she was started to feel like giving up as Prince Charming seemed to be nowhere in site. Then she met Don. They had always known of each other, but the romantic connection just hadn’t been there. Until a chance meeting where they started talking and realized that they had a lot in common. And that, they did, in fact, have a romantic connection.
The holidays came and went and not long after Don asked Joanne to marry him. If you ask Don he’ll say that he bought the piece of jewelry and Joanne started on the plans. All he had to do was show up at the Church. A new couple in love, they found themselves expecting and their daughter Whitney arrived 9 months later. Struggling young parents, juggling mortgage payments and household bills, Joanne found herself pregnant again not too soon after. She was certain she was having a girl. All the way up until the moment the baby was delivered, she was certain without a doubt. They already had a closet full of girls clothes, the perfect name picked and believed that every little girl needs a sister. But when the time came, the little sister turned out to be a little brother. Introducing Jake. And in that moment, Joanne and Don knew that every little girl most definitely should have a brother. Although they both thought the 2nd baby was going to be a girl, they wouldn’t trade their little family for all the money in the world. They had the million dollar family, just minus the million dollars. But they knew they could get there someday.
Celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary this year, Joanne and Don are in a different place than when they first met. Marriage and raising children has been a learning experience, but they’ve come to know that you have to take the good with the bad. The ups with the downs. Some days are tough. Some experiences are tough. But you get through them together as a family and it only makes you stronger. Don and Joanne, I look at your family and it makes me smile. When Ewan and I first met we were students and didn’t have an extra penny to spare. We ate Kraft Dinner and hot dogs and hit up my mom’s house for dinner as often as we could. There are many sleepless nights with kids. There are mounds of dirty laundry and there are difficult lessons to learn. But I love every single minute of it because we are a family. And we’re doing it together. Thank you for inspiring me to see that all families start somewhere and grow together and grow more and more in love every single year. We wish you both the happiest 20th wedding anniversary with many many more to come.
- Brianna (photos by Ewan)
by Brianna
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