We Still Do

We met on what we both thought would be a typical Monday at the doctor’s office where I (Megan) worked. Nathan had just come home for leave from his deployment with the Army and was swinging by the office to see an old friend. What neither of us knew was that this friend had a little matchmaking up her sleeve. She didn’t have to work hard for this particular match, though. One look at Nathan in uniform and I was smitten. I like to say that I had the same affect on him with my grungy scrubs, scrunched hair and glasses, being so irresistible. We had our first date at lunch on Thursday and second date the same night and were inseparable the rest of his leave. Spending a lot of time at the lake, barbecues with family, and anything that kept us together. At the end of the 2 weeks I took him to the airport so he could return to Afghanistan to finish the last 6 months of his deployment. We spent that time emailing, writing letters, sending care packages, along with some phone calls. We had an unconventional dating period; but after those first two weeks, we both knew we’d do whatever it took to be together.

After 5 months of LONG distance dating, Nathan finished his deployment and returned to Fort Drum, New York where he was stationed. The first step of his plan began that day. He purchased a plane ticket for me to come visit him for Christmas and immediately went ring shopping. We were able to spend another 2 weeks together over the Holidays and on Christmas morning, he proposed. The ring was in my stocking since he knew stocking stuffers were always my favorite. It was a magical morning. He still gives me a hard time about my reply of a very nervous, “Really?” Which was quickly followed by “Yes” and diving in for a hug.

We were neck deep in wedding plans when Nathan received the news that he would not be granted leave for our wedding day. We had a tough go of planning the day anyways, but this was the icing on the cake. We had hardly seen each other in the 8 months we had been dating and just could not wait to be married so we could truly spend time together like normal couples. So we did what worked best for us. I said goodbye to Oklahoma and flew up to NY with 2 suitcases and an ivory colored easter dress determined to become Mrs. Todd. I did own a beautiful wedding dress at the time but could not afford the extra plane seat it needed to come to NY with me. So my dress stayed behind. Oh the things we do for love. Nathan’s Mother and my own family joined us at the Watertown Court House which we found to be hideously decorated with leprechauns and clovers for St. Patrick’s Day. After seeing the expression on my face Nathan quickly suggested that we exchange our vows in the intense cold at the outdoor gazebo. You know the decor is bad when you would chance hypothermia over indoor heating. The ceremony was short, not so sweet, and flippin freezing. If i remember correctly Nathan even rushed his vows by hurridly barking “I do” after the first line followed by a “My bad. Was there more to Say? Its cold , yall. ” Needless to say , It’s a day that we have both learned to laugh about and are glad there aren’t too many photos of it. I did finally have the opportunity to wear my real wedding dress months later for a photo session taken at The Oklahoma State Capital Building by a family friend. This session is what most of you have seen on social media but our actual wedding day looked a lot less thrilling, lol.

Our vow renewal means the world to us. I’ve dreamt of my wedding day nearly my whole life and when it came down to choosing...I chose the marriage over the wedding. But that does not mean I gave up my dream completely. I’ve thought, planned, and prayed for this day for our entire marriage. We have a unique, complicated and yet beautiful love story that we would like to celebrate and we cannot wait to see you all on our day. We hope you enjoyed reading a bit about our story here.