The Gates Family Blog

It has been seven years since Gary has come into my life, or I came into his life, we can never agree on which is which. It is a bit of a strange story. Definitely one of those stupid millenial technology stories, but it is ours and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It started right after May long weekend in 2013. I had started receiving messages through an anonymous questions platform (I realize now this is a breeding ground for bullying, but that is another story, for another day). Someone simply sent “you’re cute” well, being the teenage girl I was, I wanted to know who had interest in me. So, I responded with the most naive response “thanks! Who is this???” And it became a goose chase of me asking questions trying to figure out who this person was.

I finally traced it back to a photo I had like of some friends on their May long weekend camping trip. There was a guy with them, someone who was a little older and used to hang out with my brother. His name was Gary. I wasn’t certain, but responded to this person with “I think I know who you are, you should just send me a message”. But of course, they would not let up. I had to make the first move.

So I made the dive. I found his facebook page and I sent him a message. “Hi” but of course, since my heart was in my throat, I made a mistake first and sent “i” 🤦‍♀️

It became a bit of a whirlwind friendship for awhile. We would spend hours talking over text. We talked about daily life, we got into our past, what we experienced, our points of view, our similarities, our differences. We began to expose ourselves to each other. He was the friend I turned to when I lost my youngest brother. He would talk to me anytime of the day, about anything I wanted. He became my best friend. When I needed a little help getting through the day, I knew I could rely on him.

After a few months of talking, we began sneaking around together. The guy who I had sworn to everyone was nothing more than a friend, became a guy I would spend every second thinking about. I became obsessed with him. I would find any excuse to spend time with him. He would ride the bus with me, from school until I got on my last bus home. Holding each other and kissing each other (one of those annoying sets kids who like to make out together non stop, eating each others faces. Wherever they are and cant keep their hands off each other. 🤢

Then the family found out, and in Decemeber 2013 we began openly dating. We faced telling my parents, my brother and everyone else. But that’s another story.

Now, I am married to a wonderful, amazing man, who is my best friend. We have been through so much together, and we continue to grow together. We have been by each others side for the past seven years. Going through ups and downs. Growing together and learning some really hard lessons. We have learnt about what is important to us, both individually and as a couple. As well as how to fight for each other. We continue to learn the best way to try and help each other grow and we face challenges together as a team.