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# Since Eleven 💍
- URL: https://www.themariejohn.com/since-eleven/
- Published: 2025-10-02T20:13:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-04T20:09:59.000Z
- Description: a short memoir on the longest love story i know.
- Author: Soul x SWMarie ✨
- Tags: resilience, Short Stories, memoir, black writers, love, substack, Newsletter, #Migrated-1791144068973, #Import 2026-10-04 20:05

*Some love stories just have to be told.*

*Here’s mine.🖤*

[Subscribe now](#/portal/signup)

---

## Middle School Crushes & MySpace Love

I’ll never forget watching him fly up and down the hallways of Paul Revere Middle School — the boy with the thick New Orleans accent and the kind of humor that could make Katt Williams chuckle. I was too shy to talk to him. He was a grade above me, carried a confidence that lingered in the air long after he’d left the room, and everyone knew who he was. Something told me I was too small of a fish for him to ever notice me.

But then — it happened. I was standing in the hallway, talking to one of my teachers, money pinned to my red school shirt for my birthday, when he walked right up to me.

“Happy birthday. I’d give you a dollar, but I’m broke right now.” He finally spoke to me.

I clung to those words like a newborn to its mother. I didn’t know what to do but smile. Butterflies built a permanent home in my stomach for the rest of the day. That night, I replayed his voice in my head over and over again. I didn’t understand why I was so drawn to him, but none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was he noticed me.

I carried that feeling all the way to the end of the school year, just two weeks away from May 17th. The afternoon of the last day of school, I ended up at Princes Burgers across the street from school — laughing, joking, and crying with my friends as the year came to a close.

And then he walked in. Him and whatever girl he happened to be talking to that week. He sat across from me and one of my guy friends, and suddenly my heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to escape through my throat. Words slipped away from me every few minutes, but I held it together — trying not to embarrass myself in front of the boy who already had all of my attention.

By the time it got dark, it was time to leave. But before I could, he surprised me — he asked for my MySpace information so he could add me. I handed it over, trying to stay cool, and then spent the entire night glued to my Sidekick, waiting for that first message.

![This may contain: an email message is displayed on the computer screen, with other messages added to it](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/9c9e6492-7618-46a5-88e2-05ce3842eb4a_500x321-jpeg.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/d598f700-86e3-4647-80a1-457abf3da020_1920x1080.png)

From that night forward, we talked every single day… all day, for weeks and months on end.

Everything about him drew me in — the fact that he was older, that he’d come to the city after Katrina, the way he carried himself, his voice, his music taste. Even the way he’d call me *babygirl* or *angel.* I remember when he finally asked me to be his girlfriend, I redid my entire MySpace page with a slideshow of pictures of just him. Yes, I was *that* person.

I was only 12\. I knew nothing about love. But I was in it. I had fallen, hard. Off MySpace conversations, late nights, and lack of sleep. But when you’re 12 years old, nothing lasts forever. Right?

## Years Apart

Life kept getting in the way. And when I say life, I mean my very strict parents. I’m thankful for them now, but back then I could’ve sworn they were ruining my world.

We talked off and on for years. Every time we reconnected, it was like the sun cracked through again. My world just felt brighter when he was in it. I’m not romanticizing — I was genuinely happier anytime we were connected.

And every time we came back, it felt like we were re-introducing ourselves. New pictures, stories, and memories from our lives. Each time, there was a little magic, like… okay. *This time it’s going to last.*

But it never did.

He went back to New Orleans for a while. I stayed in Houston. We were too young, and we knew it wasn’t time.

We both dated other people and built other lives. And then came six years of silence.

He went on with his life. I went on with mine. I had a child, got married, and convinced myself that chapter was closed for good.

No social media and no numbers. Just living in two different worlds.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/24d50d77-fa91-496a-98bc-bb19d291b02e_1920x1080.png)

## The Reunion

Then came 2019.

I’d been in a miserable marriage for years, and I finally made the decision to leave. We just weren’t compatible. It wasn’t meant to be, and deep down I knew it.

About a month later, I found myself typing Jeremy’s name into Facebook. I don’t even know why. Curiosity? Nostalgia? Hope? Maybe all three to be honest. So much time had passed. I was sure he’d moved on and forgotten what we once had.

But here’s the thing: no matter how many years slipped by, even when life kept getting in the way of us being together before the years of silence, he was always my friend. So I clicked “Add Friend” and held my breath.

It didn’t even take ten minutes for him to accept the request. (I STILL GOT IT LIKE THAT!??!)

And just like that, the butterflies came back.

Everything was different this time. I was an actual adult — I had a child, bills, a car, and a job. He was still living in New Orleans and working. We spent weeks communicating and getting to know each other again. We’d sleep on the phone together like we were kids again and during the day I’d sneak texts to him underneath my work desk.

Then one day he told me that he was planning to make a trip to Houston for business he had to tend to. There was no way I’d miss out on a chance to see him in person after all of these years.

I slipped that night in between the lines of my journal:

> *It was 7:35 p.m. on the Beltway and I was in a race against time, weaving through traffic like it was my only mission in life. Ten years had passed since the boy from the hallways of Paul Revere Middle School had stolen my attention away, and now here I was — driving 40 minutes to knock on a red door at the Red Roof Inn.* 
>  
> *Old-school R&B poured from my speakers, and pterodactyls, not butterflies, swirled in my stomach. My palms were sweaty, my heart was racing. I checked my eyebrows, drowned myself in body spray, and tried to catch my breath.* 
>  
> *This was our first time seeing each other in over a decade. I wanted to look and smell my very best.* 
>  
> *Before I knocked on room number nine, I heard jazz music coming from the room. That’s my baby in there.* 
>  
> *The sound of the locks sliding back nearly made me collapse. When the door opened, he was standing there with the biggest smile on his face. I jumped immediately into his arms with all the anticipation and tension of ten years between us. He smelled like cologne, cannabis, and something sweet. He held me like he’d never let me go.* 
>  
> *For hours we talked, laughed, kissed, made love and rediscovered the pieces of ourselves we’d left behind all those years ago. We laid there tangled in each other’s presence, simultaneously feeling like strangers and like home. I was nervous, insecure, but he made me feel beautiful. Made me feel safe. Made me feel like no time had passed at all.* 
>  
> *By the time the sun came up, neither of us wanted to say goodbye. He walked me to my car as tears filled my eyes. I got in, rolled the window down and said, “goodbye”… “it’s not goodbye, baby, it’s ‘see you later.’” I drove off and five minutes later — he was calling me.* 
>  
> *i’ve found my heart again.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/eb996eda-670d-4526-9bc1-67c460b82325_1920x1080.png)

We had fallen deeply in love. There was a permanent glow on my face from simply being able to pick up the phone, call him, and hear that beautiful voice shine through the speaker: *“Wazzam, baby.”* Ugh. Weak in the knees every time.

We did the long-distance thing for a few months. I’d send letters in the mail for him to keep and he’d catch the Megabus or Greyhound to Houston every single chance he could. A six-hour bus ride — just for me. When he arrived, we’d fall into our own little world. Dinner dates, long walks in the park, music playing in the background, laughing until our stomachs hurt. He’d take me around Houston and show me corners of the city I’d never noticed before.

But nothing compared to the weekend he came in for his birthday that October. That weekend was pure bliss.

He booked a hotel room, and I showed up with six balloons and six birthday cards I had hand-made and laminated. One for every birthday I had missed during the six years we hadn’t spoken. I also wrote a letter to his parents in heaven and got that laminated too, thanking them for blessing me with such a beautiful human being. *He still has those things in a box to this very day.*

When I walked in, trench coat over lingerie, the room was lit with candles and music — his way of saying I’d been worth the wait.

We spent that weekend wrapped up in each other, planning a future we both finally felt ready for. I knew I couldn’t go back to just dreaming about him anymore — so I told him what my heart had already decided: I was ready to pack up me and my son, cross those state lines, and build a life with him in New Orleans.

And that’s exactly what I did.

---

## The Rocky Years

But love stories don’t stay in the honeymoon phase forever.  
Since 2020, life has tested us in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Rocky years. Silent dinners. Too many nights where pride spoke louder than love. There were days I wondered if the universe had played a cruel trick on the both of us — giving me the one I prayed for since middle school, only to watch us fumble under the weight of bills, stress, 2 back-to-back pregnancies, and the exhaustion of adulthood.

But somehow, even in the roughest patch, neither of us walked away for good (we’d break up for a few days… and find ourselves right back in each other’s arms).  
We fought (a lot), stumbled and learned. We got engaged in early 2024 and during that engagement year, we faced tremendous hardships — financially, emotionally, and mentally.

But what GOD has brought together… let no man take apart.

## The Proposal - February 2024

Old blog post entry:

> *We always discover new places, find something new to do together on a whim, or just hang out and enjoy each other’s company. I don’t care what we’re doing — as long as I’m with him, nothing else really matters. So, I got dressed to be a passenger princess for the day and we set off.* 
>  
> *We took a ride about an hour across town, checked out some new neighborhoods, listened to music, got some snacks and then picked up some food. We kind of have one thing we like doing on date nights — grabbing food from one of our favorite places to eat and then we will pull up and park in the strip center across the street from the middle school where we met.* 
>  
> *We like to go sit in that parking lot and eat together sometimes.* 
>  
> *We don’t even have to say anything… we know what that place means to us both. Once we finished eating, we went to see the trail that we walked on 4 years ago. I remember we accidentally got lost in that park. I was not wearing the right shoes and my feet were killing me while we walked trying to find the car. He told me to sit on a bench we found and he rubbed my feet while beatboxing to me.* 
>  
> *I still remember the beat we listened to together on that very bench. \*inserts blushing emoji\* Anyway back to the present day. After the trail, we decided to go to Kemah Boardwalk. We hadn’t ridden any rides or anything together yet so we were excited! The first ride we got on was the Ferris Wheel. Let me tell you, anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely hate the Ferris Wheel man, omg. But, I got on with him anyway.* 
>  
> *Ya’ll… the look on this man’s face sitting across from me is one I will never forget. There was so much love in his eyes and he couldn’t stop smiling. Looking back now, I realize why that was. He held my hands… or should I say he let me squeeze his hands uncontrollably while I had my eyes closed half the time. Then he said, “It’s okay baby, just let go, I’m right here I got you.” OMG, I’m melting as I type this. I love this man so much. WHEW.* 
>  
> *So we rode all the rides, and the train, and then decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk. It was nice because there weren’t many people and there were pretty lights above us and the water right there near us. It was so beautiful. Well, while we were on the boardwalk he stopped to hug me and he held me tight for a long time. He asked me if I would love him forever and I told him yes. Then he said, “Well, that’s good to know…” and I was like, “Whyyyy is that!?” at this point I kind of suspected that something was up.* 
>  
> *Right after that, we went over to take pictures in the picture booth and as I was getting out to get the pictures out of the machine, he was behind me. Him: “Baby?” Me: “Yes?” \*turns around\* Him: “Baby, will you marry me?” I cried so hard and of course, I told him yes. This was a dream come true for me. I used to write Mrs. \*his last name\* all over my stuff in middle school. I’d tell to my friends that he’d be my husband one day. My sister was so sick of me talking about him all of the time back in the day LOL.* 
>  
> *Yes, we went our separate ways as teenagers and went about life in our adult years. But God knew that this man was meant for me just like I was meant for him. He brought us back together and I’m so thankful that he did. This man is everything to me and baby, if you’re reading this, I promise to make you the happiest husband in this world from now until God calls us home… and even then, you will forever be the only true love I ever did know.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/9254f20c-a586-4066-89be-3d39a1d1e690_640x694.webp)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/9342f7b6-3ba9-4282-a306-e3f04908fb31_640x537.webp)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/0abd7edf-c755-4a52-8a1a-5703d07fecb9_720x366.webp)

## Exchanging Vows — June 2025

Journal entry on the night we said I do.

> *This past Saturday was more than a date.. It felt like divine alignment — one of those rare days when everything, even the smallest details, feels like it was handpicked by God to remind you: this is your person, this is your story, and this is your season.* 
>  
> *It started simple. We didn’t have a big plan or a budget that could stretch far. Saturday morning, we ended up at a little random coffee shop—nothing fancy. And yet, that quiet table became true sacred ground.* 
>  
> *We cried, we talked, and we saw each other. Truly.* 
>  
> *And for the first time in a long time, I really looked into his eyes and apologized —from the depths of my heart. I told him I was sorry for making him feel inadequate during a time when I expected everything from him and gave little support in return because of my own selfishness at times. He had carried me through so much, and I hadn’t always made space to acknowledge it. Even though he had his own faults (and he owned up to them too), this conversation wasn’t about blame. It was about finally meeting each other in the middle through all of it.* 
>  
> *He looked at me, teary-eyed, and whispered that my words lifted a weight he didn’t even know he was still carrying. In that moment, it felt like we healed each other in a way.* 
>  
> *After that emotional start to the day, he took me to Galveston. We sat at a bar by the water and drank a beer. Then we went to Main Event, even though we didn’t really have the money to splurge.* 
>  
> *Here’s what’s crazy though… I went to the bathroom before we paid, and when I came back, he had this look on his face. He found a play card on the ground and said, “Let’s just see what’s on it.”* 
>  
> *it had 50 whole minutes on it 🤣😭 like, what?!* 
>  
> *We played everything like we were 15 again. For FREE. Didn’t spend a dime. Walked out giddy like teenagers skipping class, it was so much fun.* 
>  
> *Then he took me to one of our favorite little food spots, and instead of heading home, he pulled up to the middle school where we first met. We sat in the parking lot across the street—the very parking lot where it all started—and just… talked. About life. About us. About how full circle everything felt.* 
>  
> *And then, just when I thought we were wrapping up the night, he drove past our house. I was like, “Where are we going?” And he looked over at me and said, “You wanna cry?” 😭* 
>  
> *I laughed and said, “Yeah?” And then… he turned on the song I had told him I wanted to walk down the aisle to… a song he picked out for my parents (Real Good Hands by Gregory Porter). And without another word, he turned into Kemah Boardwalk. The place where he proposed over a year.* 
>  
> *That’s when I knew.* 
>  
> *One of our plans had been to find a jazz bar that night. But instead, we stumbled on a live jazz band playing for free on the boardwalk—again, like God was showing off just a little. We sat and listened to the music, soaking it all in. Everything felt… aligned. Like every detail had been whispered into the universe ahead of us. It felt perfect.* 
>  
> *Eventually, we walked down the boardwalk and ended up at the fountain at the end. That’s where it all happened.* 
>  
> *He grabbed my hands and said, “I think there’s some things I wanna say to you.”* 
>  
> *“What’s that?”* 
>  
> *“My vows.”* 
>  
> *And that’s where we exchanged vows… with witnesses being random people on the boardwalk and God.* 
>  
> *We looked at each other and said our truths and our forever. And I was bawling my eyes out—ugly crying and all. Then we sealed it all by saying, “With God as our witness.”* 
>  
> *After that, we walked back to the car and I asked him to play a song to seal the deal… and he played a song that he played in the car on a night we were were deep in an argument, but he was trying to win me back. I still remembered it.* 
>  
> *(Halfway by S-8ighty and Lil Wayne)* 
>  
> *It was perfect. It was ours, just us two. This was our covenant and promise. Our new beginning… again.*

One day, we will have our perfect dream wedding with family and friends to attend, but for now — we hold on to the beautiful moment we shared under the moonlight and the bay water lapping on the boardwalk.

## Forever…

The same boy who used to make me laugh all hours in the night on MySpace now makes our three children crack up. The man who once sat on a Greyhound for six hours just to see me in Houston is the same man who gets up and goes to work every day so we can have stability.

We’ve been through storms that could’ve taken us out. But instead of breaking us, they showed us what we were really made of. When we made the decision to move back to Louisiana in July of this year, it felt like everything came full circle.

Our love story isn’t perfect — but it’s real. It’s so real.

Since being a kid, I’ve been tied to this man in ways I still can’t explain. From MySpace slideshows to saying our vows, from first love to forever love. We’ve seen the best and the worst. And still, after everything, we choose each other. Every single day.

The same butterflies I felt at 11 still show up today. Only now, instead of living in my stomach, they live within the life we’ve built together.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/3eca3396-de07-4287-8917-607a12c5879f_1242x2208-jpeg-1.jpg)

my favorite picture of us <3

---

And a special thanks to [Jake Comito](https://open.substack.com/users/49943268) for posting his vows on Substack and giving me the inspiration to finally share my story, too. (the long version) LOL. Check out his post below!

[The best thing I ever wrote are my vows. I’m putting on a sketch comedy show next week with my wife. It’s called The Jake and Tara Show and it’s at Magnet Theater in New York City. It’s sold out, and I am so freaking excited.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/a5/69a50cf8-a236-4da4-b798-8dad6075188d/content/images/2026/10/387571e6-dfbe-40b5-8fe0-bf8f9066871b_1172x1176-jpeg.jpg)Jake Comito](https://jakecomito.substack.com/p/the-best-thing-i-ever-wrote-are-my)