The story behind Jake and I meeting is honestly quite ironic. It isn't quite a story of coming back into each other's lives many years later, even though we went to school together in Lincoln, RI when we were younger. It isn't quite a story of bumping into each other in public and sparking an interest, even though we lived in the same small town right up the street from one another for six years. It's a story of my Best Friend, Jazz, telling me to try a new dating app called Duet, and within a few days Jake and I matched and began talking. All of the coincidences in our life, and it took us both being on some new dating app to finally meet and be in each other's lives forever. Ironic or just another coincidence? Either way we are grateful for it. Jake and I are the true, corny definition of we went on a first date and truly never left each other. The corny parts comes in for the saying of, "When you know, you know." If you are here, then you seemingly know either Jake or myself, or both of us, pretty damn well. And if you do, you know that we both have experienced many different versions of life at a young age. For most people I think this would be scary, and maybe even want to make you walk away. But for us, it is what solidified our relationship even more. We met and went into this relationship knowing exactly what we wanted and accepting each other as we were, baggage included. Being a single mother, I was quite skeptical. The question of would we ever find someone that would accept us as we were, love us, and care for the both of us was a constant thought inside my head. Until Jake. Before even meeting Colton, Jake made him important. And when they did finally meet, I cannot even describe the emotions. Jake immediately took on the role of a parent figure, loving Colton, caring for him, teaching him, and simply just showing up for him. A huge, important aspect of a child's life that my son didn't always receive. But now, he has it forever. Our story together is not the longest, it may not even be the cutest, but it is the realest. The three of us have all experienced things we wish we didn't, but together we are re-writing our stories and living our dream life together ♥