Carolyn & Jonathan

This could be a story of a quick wedding five months after we began dating, six months after Jonathan moved from Connecticut, but it’s so much more than that. Both from Chapel Hill, we grew up together at University Presbyterian Church. At East Chapel Hill High School, Jonathan sat behind me in my French class freshman year, twirling his pen around his fingers and asking me what we were supposed to be doing.

We were closest in high school. People thought we were dating with all the time together and couch piles and hand holding; turns out we were in love but never told each other. We would see each other over the holidays at church, and try to have a coffee hangout. It had been a few years when Jonathan texted me this May saying he had moved from Connecticut. He wanted to hang out. I knew I wanted to see him. Neither of us knew what would develop over the next weeks, but both of us had hopes.

It wasn’t long (2 weeks or so) before we decided to date—we still loved each other after all the years in different relationships and different states. We already had a foundation of trust and caring, so it was easy to become more than friends. We want the same things in life, we have very similar interests, we share a love for malted milkshakes... when you know, you know.

We agreed quickly that we wanted to build a life together. We were so sure about it that at the beginning of July (not quite two months since reconnecting) we got tattoos together. A month later, while visiting Norway, Jonathan gave me a beautiful ring and made our engagement official. True to our whirlwind style, we picked October so we wouldn’t have to wait to start the rest of our lives together!