For those of you that don’t know our story... Fred and I have crushed on one another for 22 years. I frequently watched him play basketball in my sisters yard on Sunday afternoons. Because of our age difference at the time (Me 16 and Fred 23), we only smiled at each other. My sister would often joke and say to him "Fred, Shauna in the house." Once I went off to college, Fred obtained my number from Jamey Johnson (my brother in law at the time). I was intimated by Fred because he was an “older man” in my eyes so I shied away from him. I saw Fred at a local basketball game when my niece was in high school and he could barely referee the game because we were smiling at one another. My mom was like, “What are y’all smiling at?” Once again Fred contacted Jamey and asked for my number. In Nov 2016, I trained in Indian for my job. At that time I was pregnant with Tristyn. Prior to my training, Jamey had messaged me saying Fred wanted my number yet again. (I changed my number often) Once Fred and I spoke, guess who I found out was living In Kentucky, only minutes away from where I was staying in Indiana....yes Fred. We went on a couple of dates while I was in Indiana but because I was pregnant, Fred didn’t necessarily take me serious. Our conversations faded once again. After Tristyn turned 1, I reached out to Fred (who had been messaging every so often). I asked if he wanted to take me to the movies. He said, “Is that how you ask?” I said, “yep”. Our story will be never ending from then on! Who would have thought we would end up together? God knew! I can honestly say I have seen God ordering my steps over the last few months. They say when God has something for you, it’s better than you could ever imagine! Fred is exactly what God has been maturing me for! I’m blessed to call him mines and I thank God for him! 💋💕💋 #futurebates #CroomtoBates #whenFredmetShauna #BlackLove