My husband and I first met in preschool. We lost touch for a while, but we’ve now been married for 15 years.

My husband and I have been married for 15 years. We met in preschool.

After my first marriage ended, I reconnected with my preschool classmate. What started as two old friends reconnecting eventually turned into love, and we recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.

My husband Evan and I attended Temple Beth Am Day School in the Pinecrest village of Miami-Dade County from preschool through elementary school. Although we eventually went our separate ways when I began at the local public high school in town and Evan began at the local private high school, we never lost touch. Evan and my cousin played basketball together and eventually became best friends, so he and I grew up together.

Growing up, I distinctly remember Evan always being the nicest boy in class, and his kindness stood out to me again when I ran into him on the street years later. I was at a big arts festival in Miami with my now-ex-husband, who I had my first son Ryan with. I ran into Evan, and he stopped me on the street. I introduced my ex-husband to Evan, and we all ended up catching up on the sidewalk for half an hour. I remember thinking to myself how much of a nice guy he still was all those years later.

We reconnected at my grandfather’s funeral

We didn’t stay in touch after we reconnected on the street that day. But about a year later, while I was getting divorced from my first husband, my grandfather died, and Evan came to the funeral to pay his respects. At the funeral, I told him I was getting divorced and needed a new apartment for my son Ryan and me. Evan owns his own residential real estate company in South Florida. While he helped me look for a new place, we got reacquainted.

Eventually, a unit opened up in his building, and Ryan and I moved in. I figured if the apartment was good enough for Evan to own property there, it was good enough for us. Our apartment quickly started to feel more like a college dorm. Some nights, I’d go up to see him, and other nights, he would come down to see me.

When we finally went on our first date, I was nervous. Not only had I recently been divorced, but I also had a 2-year-old son. We went to an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood, which wasn’t too fancy, and talked for hours. I remember thinking, “This feels good, I could do this.”

It was important to me Evan also fostered a connection with my son

While we were dating, I made sure that Evan knew Ryan and I were a package deal. If he wanted to fall in love with me, he had to also fall in love with Ryan. It didn’t take long before Ryan and Evan developed their own relationship. They would run through the hallway playing Star Wars with lightsabers and play basketball on our rooftop balcony. We really became the perfect trio.

Evan and I got married in 2009 at the same place where we first met in preschool. Temple Beth Am Day School has a synagogue and a ballroom, so we had both our service and reception there. My mom still had our preschool class picture from 1979, where Evan and I sat next to each other in the front row.

One of my friends took the preschool class picture and edited everyone else in the photo to be black and white, keeping us in color so we could stand out. We used this picture, along with a picture of us as adults wearing similar clothes to the ones in our preschool photo, for our wedding invitation.

Ryan was standing with us during the ceremony, and when we walked down the aisle, Evan picked Ryan up as we all walked out together. Consistent with Jewish tradition, we all participated in the hora, and Evan, Ryan, and I were lifted into the air in a chair.

While Ryan was growing up, every year during our wedding anniversary, we would all celebrate what I like to call our family anniversary. The three of us really became family that day.

Ryan is now 19 and a student at Tulane University. We have another son, Myles, who’s 13, and twin girls, Joely and Brooke, who are 11. We’ve been married for 15 years now, and we prioritize communication. We also make sure to make each other laugh and have fun together.