Donald & Shirley’s Long Lost Love

Giddy.  I am giddy right now over these unbelievably beautiful engagement shots.  Whether in the city or among the wildflowers, Donald and Shirley’s love for each other is clear… no wonder they were able to find each other again and fall in love long after they first met in kindergarten.

As totally amazing as their engagement shots are, though, their story manages to be even better!

Here’s the story straight from Shirley, courtesy of their amazing photographer…

Donald and I met at the lovely age of 5. It’s true! But even though I would love to say that we’re elementary school sweethearts, the truth is that it didn’t all fall into place for us quite so early. We met in kindergarden, Mrs. Bower’s class, and lets just say that we had differing interests. I was the epitome of a girly-girl, and Donald, a man’s man. I was into nail polish, while he favored dirt bikes. As we moved through the early years of elementary school we became friends, and I was hooked. I mean, who could resist that smile? But as Donald remained oblivious to the female population, I sheepishly stuck with my group of girls. Our second grade teacher may have had an eye toward the future when casting the roles for a class play. Donald Hatcher: Santa Clause, Shirley Pérez: Mrs. Clause. (What great memories God allowed us to make together!)

As we grew older and I moved to another school, Donald & I drifted our separate ways for a several years only to be reunited in high school at church. This time I was the oblivious one while Donald admired timidly. Soon he got up the courage to conjure up a plan to win me over. By now you know that it worked!

Everything came full circle when Donald proposed at Mollie Ray Elementary School, the place that we met almost 18 years ago. Of course, he had to hoax me into getting to the school in the first place. Donald and his mom had visited the school a few days prior to plan out the proposal. They met with the principal and decided on a day and time. I was told that there was a special Saturday meeting where we could say hi to some of our old elementary school teachers. Besides that, Donald advised me to meet with the principal in an effort to get a job since I recently graduated. I reluctantly agreed to come along on their trip, pretty unsure about the whole thing.

The next thing I knew, I was strolling along memory lane. Donald and I began to share the memories we had of our younger years. We remembered eating lunch together in our classrooms, dancing to “Thriller” on stage, going on a field trip to the petting zoo, and competing against each other in timed multiplication tests. (He always won.) We even remembered a time where our class had pet snails. Living up to our typical personalities, Donald was fascinated by them while I was completely grossed out. We laughed at how our teacher had to force me to even touch the slimy snails.

As we walked up to the door of our kindergarden classroom, I peeked through the window to see the room that we shared so long ago when I felt Donald grab my hand and spin me around. He was on his knee–and I was confused! I remember my mind racing. Is he being serious? Did he plan all of this? Is that why we’re here? When I saw the ring in his hand I was speechless.

He began to speak. “Shirley, this is where it all started, and I want our story to continue for the rest of our lives…” That was all that I heard. I was so excited! I couldn’t even focus on what he was saying.

Photographer: Kt Crabb Photography