Damien and Miriam OUR STORY One thing about God, He will bring things full circle and it will all work out in your favor. Our story actually began as middle school students at Jackson School Complex. Who would’ve ever imagined in the 6th grade that we would be getting married and building a family of our own? We went through middle school and part of high school knowing each other, but certainly not speaking or interacting with each other unless Damien wanted to cheat off of Miriam’s test paper(Laugh Out Loud). Damien and Miriam were headed on two different paths. Miriam continued her high school career at Jackson High School, and Damien left to pursue his high school career at St. James High School. Ten years after graduating high school, Damien walked into Miriam’s job and was greeted by her with a "Hello, and wow are you Damien? I haven’t seen you in years.. since high school’’. Damien didn’t recognize Miriam at first, due to her glow up since high school, but they managed to talk briefly before he departed. Life went on and years passed again without seeing or speaking to each after their initial encounter. The thought of each other never seemed to leave their minds from that day forward. May 16, 2018, Damien noticed Miriam made a post on Facebook. He wanted to reach out to her, but was hesitant because of rejection. Damien gained the courage to reach out to Miriam to see where it would go.   The First Date After talking daily for about two weeks, Miriam finally decided to let Damien take her out for dinner. Damien was so nervous. All he could think of was to be on time and not to mess it up with his silly personality. After arriving to the restaurant, Damien greeted her with flowers and a hug. Damien and Miriam made their way to the dinner table, and while sitting and talking Damien’s silly personality started surface. To his surprise after thinking Miriam was really reserved and about her business, she was all smiles and laughs. ‘Whew’ what a relief, Damien began feeling like he could be himself. The date was perfect. They talked and laughed the whole night. Now it’s time to go and everybody knows this is the worst part when you are having a great time. Damien, being the gentleman he is, walked Miriam to her car and tried to go in for a kiss but was quickly denied (shame on her right lol). From that day forward, they have been inseparable. Making the Relationship Official After dating for about 4-5 months, Damien and Miriam decided to make it official. There were two things that had to happen before that took place and that was the meeting of Damien’s two beautiful daughters and meeting Miriam’s dad. The meeting with the girls went wonderfully. We met at an ice cream shop (like what can go wrong at an ice cream shop). Miriam and the girls hit it off immediately. Damien felt like the third wheel on a date with them (lol). Now it was time to meet Miriam’s dad Mr. Young. Miriam told Damien that her dad is not a talker and he means business. Damien being a talker/joker felt he could get him to talk. As Damien is sitting in the living room, Mr. Howard slowly makes his way to the living space, shakes Damien’s hand, and then proceeds to sit down. After the small talk, Damien thought maybe Mr. Howard would talk more if he mentioned sports. Once Damien started talking about the Saints, Mr. Howard perked up and began talking!!! Damien felt a release of pressure because he finally was able to get a connection through talking about sports. Damien would say the first meeting with Miriam’s father went better than Damien and Miriam expected.

The Engagement June is the month of commemoration for Damien and Miriam celebrating years of togetherness. Early in the morning, on June 24, 2023, Miriam was awakened by Damien saying, ‘hey bae I need you to get up and get dressed. We’re celebrating our anniversary today.’’ Damien planned a wonderful day of adventure for Miriam. The morning started with them going out to eat breakfast. After eating breakfast, Damien had a spa date set up for Miriam to get pampered and just relax. While Miriam was relaxing at the spa, Damien went shopping. Damien returned to the spa and picked Miriam up. She noticed a shoe box on the back seat and asked Damien who were the shoes for. Damien jokingly said, "MeMe that’s your anniversary gift’’ Miriam gives him a look like “yeah right”(lol) The day of adventure continued as they went to visit the Old State Capitol. They toured, took pictures, and read all the historical events regarding the State of Louisiana. Miriam was tired after visiting the Old State Capitol, so they went home to let her take a nap. After about an hour of napping, Damien wakes Miriam up and tells her to hurry up and get dressed because they had somewhere to be by a certain time. As a typically woman it took her longer than expected (lol) but they made it to their next stop on time. Thank God! The next stop was at their favorite restaurant Fleming’s Steakhouse. Normally, they would exchange gifts after dinner, but Miriam was super excited to show Damien the gift she had gotten him. They exchange gifts before eating. Miriam gives Damien his gift and his reaction said it all. He really liked his gift. Now it’s Damien’s time to give his gift. Damien reaches under the table and get the shoe box. The look on Miriam’s face when she saw the shoe box was priceless. She was not happy and if you know Damien then you know he thought it was super funny. He proceeded to back up then out of nowhere started crying which caused Miriam to cry because she didn’t know what was wrong. Damien began expressing his love and affection towards Miriam and then BOOM he gets on one knee and asks for her hand in marriage. We all know what she said because we are here now, but if you must know she said YES! On December 14, 2024, Damien and Miriam will stand before God, their family and friends. In all things, may God be center of our marriage, the hope of our future, and the source of our love. Love Always Wins