Our Love Story

Where it all began; June 22, 2010 (yes, we remember the exact date that we started talking) thanks to facebook and a country music group, Bomshel, we became friends on facebook. Instantly we started hitting it off and began talking 24/7. Meaghn lived in South Carolina at the time, while I was living in Michigan. While I had always dated guys, Meaghn had never been in a relationship and neither one of us had ever been in a same-sex relationship; we knew it was more than a friendship. After a month of talking, I (Shelby) decided to fly to North Carolina to meet up with Meaghn and her friends to see Bomshel for a concert (no one knew at this time how we were feeling about each other). Meeting each other for the first time was one of the most nerve wracking things we have ever been through. When I first saw her, I knew it was meant to be. Her short stature, cute, southern accent self had me hooked. We had a great weekend while becoming more and more physically and emotionally attached. It was hard to show our feelings towards each other when no one that weekend knew. The night before I had to fly back home, July 25, 2010, I asked her to be my girlfriend.

Over the next few months we were living a long-distance relationship, which was the hardest thing for me...especially since none of my friends or family knew (same goes for Meaghn). Meaghn had always wanted to go to school for Public Relations with a goal of working for a big record label in Nashville, TN; I knew I had to make the move for her in hopes that soon after, Meaghn would follow and end up in Nashville. I had been working at a doctors office as a Medical Assistant for the past 4 years in my hometown and absolutely loved my job, but I knew what I had to do. I made a quick weekend trip down to Tennessee to look for a job and an apartment with a friend of mine and by the time I came back to Michigan, I had an apartment down there. My friend Jeremy, who is also from Michigan, decided to move down there with me (he is gay...so no worries). When I told my mom (my best friend in the entire world) and the rest of my family, friends and coworkers that I would be moving to Nashville on September 1st, I received mixed reactions. No one knew or understood why I would just want to jump up and move out of state when I had an awesome job and when all my family and friends were in Michigan, and my biggest passion, snowboarding was there...not in a southern state. I couldn't be straight forward with them and tell them I was moving bc of a relationship...let alone one that was with a girl. Nevertheless, everyone supported me, especially my mother.

Meaghn was just starting her freshmen year at college in South Carolina, so I knew she wasn't going to move right away. I got an awesome job at an Endocrinologist office, and thankfully had friday's off. I made plenty of late night road trips to South Carolina after work on Thursdays and would stay until Sunday morning just so we could see each other. When I would go to visit, it would be a secret from her friends/dorm roommates and family...so we would get a hotel room and no one would ever know. Meaghn's birthday was coming up and I was going to visit her that weekend. One night her mom made a random trip to her college, which was about an hour away, so Meaghn knew something was up. You see, Meaghn's family is Southern Baptist so as some of you may know, they are very strict on certain things. When she went down to meet her mom, her mom went off. She had saw some stuff on facebook that we had wrote to each other and on Jeremy's page...so she knew. She did and said everything she could to let Meaghn know that being a lesbian was NOT okay. That night was one of the hardest nights of my life. We were not allowed to talk, Meaghn's mom had her go see a church counselor and everything. Meag made it very clear to her mom, that this is who she was and it was not a choice and she would do and be with who she wants to in life (long story short). I was a complete mess and decided it was time to call my mom and spill the beans. I was bawling my eyes out because I was terrified on how she would react...but when I told her that I hoped she wouldnt be mad and that I was dating "that girl Meaghn from South Carolina", her exact words were "Shelby, I would of been more upset if you told me you hated animals". (oh by the way I grew up on a farm, so animals are a big part of my family lol. WHEW, huge sigh of relief).

We both knew we would overcome all of this and would slowly start telling our friends and some of our family about us. I decided tell my old coworkers first, which were all completely supporting of everything. I then took the easy way and changed my facebook relationship status...hold your breath....no bad responses, ALL positive and supporting. Meaghn on the other hand, couldn't do the same....people in the south are much different than in the north (no offense). But she decided to tell a few of her friends and she received support, which is exactly what she needed. Her family on the other hand, was still in the air about it...I was not allowed to come around and they didn't want to talk about it, time would change this. The next few months were extremely hard on us, lots of tears and feeling lost. Meaghn didn't have her license at the time, so I was the only one able to travel if we wanted to see one another.

The new year came around, and our hopes for spending new years eve together came to an end when I knew I wouldn't be able to visit. I still was making the drive to South Carolina (about 8 hours) at least once a month, sometimes twice if I was able to. Spring came around, Meaghn was finishing up her first year at college and I needed her in Tennessee with me. Her family knew she wanted to head to Nashville for school, so it was a little less of a stress for her having to tell them..although she wasn't planning to move SO soon...but still when the time came, her mother was not as happy and excited as her dad was. Meaghn is a daddy's girl so he supports her 100 percent. We had really hoped she would be living in Nashville for our 1 year anniversary, but due to a few bumps in the road, that was a heart broken no-go. Finally, the beginning of August came and Meaghn was moving to Nashville and we would officially be living together and starting our future. Meaghn's mother was finally coming around to our relationship and was realizing that her little girl was growing up and she would do whatever she wanted to do in life, no matter what. Meag got an awesome job working a school day care and was going to a community college and we were finally where we wanted to be. Bad news though, I was extremely home sick. Nashville was not my style and was definitely not for me. I was born and raised in the country, I was used to snowboarding every day that I could in the winter and most importantly, I was missing my mom. How could I let meag know that I was completely unhappy living in Tennessee? We had many long talks about what we wanted to do, and once Thanksgiving came along I had Meag come up to Michigan with me for the first time ever...really hoping she would fall in love with it. Normally we have snow in Michigan for Thanksgiving, but last winter just did not work out in my favor...no snow. We had an awesome trip, Meag loved everything about it...now for the hard part, trying to tell Meaghn I wanted her to move up to Michigan with me. We were not living in a very nice neighborhood while in Tennessee, so that was a plus when trying to tell Meag why I wanted to move home. All this time, I was worried on what Meag would think about moving, and she had known all along that I would only be happy back in Michigan and that she was actually looking forward to move. The next few months, we went back to Michigan to visit and finally (YAY) slowly start to move all our things up there.

April 2012 rolled around and we were officially moving up to Michigan. We decided to move in with my parents and younger brother, so we could work on saving up to buy a house together. Our 2 year anniversary was this past July and I couldn't be happier. I was fortunate enough to get a job back at my old doctors office and Meag landed an awesome job as a nanny for 2 adorable children, a 4 year old and a 1 year old. It has now been 6 months since we have been living in Michigan, in my parent's house (yes, it's time we move out).

We have been looking non-stop for a house, but have had a few things fall through and are keeping our fingers crossed that something works out in the next few months due to the fact we have big plans for next year. While same-sex marriages/civil partnerships are not recognized in the state of Michigan, we will make it happen. I forgot to mention, I am 25 and Meaghn is 21. We have had plenty of long talks about our future, and as I see myself getting older, I am wanting to start a family as well as Meaghn. After we settle in to our new house (which hopefully we will hear something soon), we will go forward with starting a family. Meaghn is going to school to be a dental hygienist and still has a few more years. We know it will be a lot to handle, bc honestly not all of both our families know about us, even though I am pretty positive it's easy to assume...we will make it work. The future can sound scary, but we both know what we want in life and know if we have each other, everything will work out. We can not wait to buy a house and start a family. We are so happy and excited for our future together and can't wait to see where life takes us.

 

M&S