Very soon, my friends and I will load up our minivans with suitcases, sleeping bags and kids. We’ll drive up mountains and down the coastline to a place where moss hangs on trees like jewelry- adorning the old oaks with its spongy southern bling. March trailing behind us exhausted in the wind, we’ll drive out of our boring little lives.

Just for a moment, a chance to be a part of something greater than ourselves. Just for love and marriage, the celebration of two stories becoming one and lets get real, the chance to go to the beach! Thank you Eric and Alycia, for choosing Charleston, not Dayton, to get married. (Can I get an Amen?)

As a token of my appreciation for your amazing taste, I’d like to share your story (in your own words)…

The first time I met Alycia I was passing out candy at my Aunt and Uncle’s house. One of the trick or treaters was a very energetic power ranger, with his big sister…Alycia. As we grew to know each other I saw Alycia as a very positive, cheerful person, with an amazing sense of humor. She was always encouraging someone, or making jokes and a real pleasure to be around. -Eric

We first met in high school.  It’s hard to remember because really we just kept running into each other through mutual friends. Finally someone invited him to come to my house for a game night and we decided we were fated to be friends. (I don’t remember halloween). He was shy but had a friendly smile- easy to make laugh and nice to everyone around him.  Also, he had awesome fashion sense- think Hawaiian shirts.  -Alycia

Alycia and Eric became great friends and even dated for a time.

But Alycia went off to Australia as a foreign exchange student and Eric went off to college. They wrestled with their priorities. God, Australia, college and young love.

When I was an exchange student my junior year of high school they told us we should be unattached.  Well that was very hard so we went back and forth a lot that year, but my senior year we broke up for good. I felt myself wanting to please him more than I wanted to please God so we both moved on fairly quickly and didn’t look back. -Alycia

Alycia went to college in Arkansas and hair school in Texas. They hiked down different trails, following God like a color on a map, as he led them to places they’d never been before.

We did break up when she came back from Australia, when I was in college. It was obvious we had grown apart, but the feeling was brutal to let go of someone so close to me. We both went our separate ways for some time, during which I got married, had kids, and got divorced. When we were apart I did feel very lost. -Eric

He wasn’t the only one. Alycia had one serious boyfriend after Eric.

When it ended I felt damaged by my decisions in love. I doubted my judgment and became suspicious of my worth. -Alycia

They didn’t even know what they were missing.

I believe I was trying to find something to fit in the space that was left in my heart. I was looking for what fit there, but I kept looking in the wrong places. I have two beautiful kids from that time, which I am so blessed to have, but I still felt like there was something missing. -Eric

After school, Alycia ended up in Virginia Beach living with her best friend, Sarah. Eric was still living in Dayton.

“My family decided to take a vacation together, the first one since we were kids. My mom and sister chose Virginia Beach, where I remembered where Sarah was living. -Eric

He thought maybe Sarah could suggest some good restaurants and beaches. She suggested Alycia.

He reached out to my roommate about things to do (they had stayed in touch since high school) and she fairy god-mothered us into seeing each other again. -Alycia

Ten years of being apart, ten years of college and kids and trying to make the pieces fit, Eric and Alycia met at the ocean. As they walked the shoreline, the time sank in and around them like the sand beneath their feet.

The minute I saw him my soul knew it was meeting its mate. -Alycia

I found out that our time apart affected us both similarly and felt very at ease talking with her. -Eric

Their paths merged and they were no longer walking alone.

I didn’t realize how lonely I had been feeling… Not only did I have someone who loved and cared for me, but someone who actually enjoyed spending time with me. Eric helped me trust my heart again. -Alycia

Alycia filled the empty spaces.

I found someone who fills my life with color, creativity and laughter. My heart, my God and one incredibly mature, beautiful and good-hearted woman. -Eric

Alycia and Eric have found love.

I love him completely, I trust him completely, I respect him completely. I really knew he was the one when I realized I didn’t want to change him. When I am feeling weak he reminds me we can face anything hand in hand. -Alycia

They are about to find marriage.

I seek out her hand, just as she seeks out mine. We face the good, the bad and mundane together. She is my partner. And I am hers. -Eric

But most of all, they’ve found hope.

Our story is one of hope. In our lives we’ve both lost hope and the hope for love only to be blessed with more than our hearts could know. -Eric

And like fire and light, hope is for all of us.

I pray that we give hope to people who have given up on love. That they are able to see the healing power of love and the strength it gives when you humble yourself and let it shape you. -Alycia

See more love stories