Jason & Laura

Jason and I met on June 8th 2001.  I was 16 (almost 17) and he had just turned 20.  My friends and our employees from the rink used to go midnight bowling after closing the rink down on the weekends.  One weekend I was not planning on going.  I had just broken it off with a boyfriend and he had been going there and I just didn’t want to see him.

That evening I was hanging out at the rink when a childhood friend (Rebecca) stopped by.  She said she wanted to do something that night, I suggested the movies, another friend (Rachel) suggested bowling.  Rebecca chose bowling, so off we went.  When we got to the bowling alley all of the lanes were packed full!  Just as we were getting ready to head out, I saw one of our rink employee’s (Mike) bowling.  I walked down there and started talking to him, he said we could bowl with him and his friend (Jason).  The girls and I started bowling and checking out this friend of Mikes.  We bowled and flirted all night.  

When the bowling center closed we decided to head to Denny’s to grab some food before going home.  Jason and Mike came with us.  Jason had this claw-machine monkey with a rose in its hand with him.  He told me that he had just broken up with his girlfriend that night and she had given him this monkey.  He threw the monkey at Mike, who then gave the monkey to me.  Jason and I sat and ate pie.  He had Oreo pie and I had Reese’s pie!  We continued to flirt and talk and somehow Mike talked Jason into carrying me out of Denny’s.  It is silly but 10 years ago I thought it was so sweet!  Jason took the monkey out of my hand and wrote his number on the tag.  I wrote my number on his hand.

Jason called the next day and we continued to talk and hang out.  We decided to officially become “boyfriend & girlfriend” on June 24th.  We dated exclusively for 5.5 years and became engaged on February 23, 2007.  Jason took me to the swanky Red Lobster ;).  It is actually one of my favorite restaurants and he got down on one knee and proposed in front of the entire restaurant.  It was sweet and perfect.

We celebrated 7 years on our wedding on June 28th, 2008 surrounding by 400 of our closest friends and family.  No seriously the wedding had to be big, people showed up that were not even invited, but I didn’t mind, the more the merrier!  

Our relationship has never been easy, but 17 years later we are still fighting for it and loving each other even more.  

I always look back on that night 17 years ago in June when we exchanged numbers and I remember what Jason’s mom once told me.  She said that when Jason got home that night (at 3:00 am) he woke her up and said “I found the girl I am going to marry!”  I love that and I love Jason.