Back in the 90s, Maumelle was an up-and-coming town. There was one stop light, a Hardees, and the Methodist Church. Both Katie and Justin’s families attended the Methodist Church. If you ask Momma Pat, she still has the church directories with their oh so stylish 90s outfits. You can find the Russell and Richards families on the same page. While Katie and Justin didn’t run in the same group, there was still overlap between all the activities in Maumelle. They also rode the school bus together to elementary school at Williams Magnet. Again, Momma Pat has the year books so you can see their lovely school photos. After middle school, Justin went on to Central High and Katie went to CAC. Megan and Justin’s groups of friends overlapped, but Katie and Justin’s paths would not cross again until many years later. Flash forward to July 21, 2022. Katie played in a bowling tournament for work at Millennium Bowl in Maumelle. Afterwards, the group went to Overtime to hang out. While she was sitting at a table, she heard someone yell her full name across the bar. Mind you, anytime you hear your full name in a bar the feeling of “oh no who could this possibly be” creeps in. Turns out, it was Justin Richards who remembered her from elementary school. Katie was surprised he recognized her after all these years. After a very eventful evening, Justin asked for her phone number and of course she gave it to him! Now, Justin would describe this story just a little differently. He was hanging out at Overtime with his friends and walked towards the bathroom. He saw this girl sitting a table and knew he recognized her but couldn’t place it. While he was finishing up in the bathroom, a light bulb went off. “That’s Katie Russell!” After he yelled her name across the bar and started talking, he told her of course he recognized her. She looked the same as she did all those years ago, just grown up. Sparks instantly flew that night, and they both knew this could turn into something great. One Hank Jr. concert was all it took, Justin never stood a chance! Things took a turn when Justin unintelligently decided he should follow through on his plan of moving down to the Florida Keys. That experiment lasted all of about 6 weeks. The threat of a hurricane was all the motivation he needed to get back to Arkansas and find a way back into Katie’s world. Thankfully, he came to his senses and 18 months later, the two are planning the rest of their lives together!