Rachel and Kevin
January is a time when people try hard to find love and in the search often become disheartened about finding ‘the one’. That true love only exists in the movies. It’s couples like Rachel and Kevin who prove that love can be found in the unlikeliest of places and that it’s not all plain sailing but if it’s meant to be then love will find a way!
Been together: 12 years this August 2014
Your first meeting:
When I was 15 I put up a card in my local shop advertising babysitting services, I was in my last year of High School so wanted a bit of extra money. I received two enquiries and after visiting the first (a woman who wanted me to stay over at her house on Saturday nights to look after her 6 and 7 year old while she went out on the town - I turned that one down!) I went to see another couple who were relatively new parents who wanted me to spend a couple of hours on a Friday or Saturday night, looking after their six month old, Millie, while they went for a drink to the pub directly across the road. I took on the job with this couple and for the next few months enjoyed looking after the baby and got on really well with her mum and dad. I'll always remember that 2002 was the year of Will Young because I sat watching the final with my friend in the February and by August I had met Kevin, bringing me onto the next part of our story.
Millie's mum and dad were married on August 23, 2002, and the couple asked me to attend the evening reception which I went to with the same friend I watched the Pop Idol final with (only just realised that!) As we arrived we looked around and realised we knew no-one else there so went and sat at one of the MASSIVE round tables you find at weddings all by ourselves. I had previously asked her to come with me because she had been having boy troubles and said to her "we might meet the man of our dreams there". Looking around the room I saw a young man who I thought looked quite cute -winner - plus, he was seemingly the only other person around our age. Anyhow, the night went on and the young man made a few trips past our table to the dance floor chasing after his younger brothers. When my friend went outside to speak to the boy she was having trouble with on the phone, the nice young man came over and introduced himself as Kevin and asked for my number ("I've never done this kind of thing before but you would you give me your number so I can take you out?"). He had no phone so scuttled off to the bar to get a pen and pad. I gave him my number and.......he swiftly left. I later found out that he had been trying to catch me coming out of the toilets earlier in the evening but it had taken him so long to come up to me it was time for him to leave to head back to Liverpool with his parents and younger brothers by the time he did!
I thought I'd never hear from him again but the next day, while I was having a BBQ with friends at my house- he called! The next week we went to see Goldmember at the cinemas and for a meal, the following week we met up again and spent the day together - been together ever since :)
Finding young love:
I come from a long line of couples that found each other when they were young - some didn't get together until they were in their twenty's, others were teenagers such as myself - so perhaps it's something I have always thought was the norm? Before I met Kevin I was with another person for a year and a half so I've always been an all or nothing kind of girl. When you're young everything is intensified so I believe you can find the love of your life when you're young, it's the staying in love that you have to work at.
When did you fall in love?
It's hard to put a pointer on the exact moment but the second time we went out and spent an entire day in the park chatting and laughing (and the first time we kissed). I text him while he was on his way home saying that I thought I was falling for him. I think it was when I actually went to see where he was from in Liverpool and met his family that I thought, yep, think I'm in love!
The strongest thing about your relationship:
Being together for so long hasn't come without its hardships. We've had 'breaks' as most teenage love affairs go through and spent three months apart a couple of years ago when a real spanner was thrown in the works. However, it is learning how to communicate and work through whatever problems arise that is key. Having a long distance relationship (ok, 20-odd miles is nothing when you have a car but when you're reliant on parents and public transport it's damn hard!) is also difficult. The strongest thing about our relationship is that we respect each other and realise that our differences in our opinions, upbringings and families is what makes us 'us'.
What do you love about him the most?
He makes me laugh. From the moment I met him he's made me laugh. I also love that he challenges me. A 'yes' man would not interest me in the slightest; I like a 'heated debate'. He has strong values and though I was sad when all of grandparents died I was devastated when my maternal grandfather passed as we were very close. Kevin sat with me while I cried and picked me up when I needed to get back to life.
Biggest highs while being a couple?
We've not done any of the 'big stuff' even though we've been together for so long so our highs are many to choose from. Our first holiday abroad by ourselves was a particular high because up until that time we had never been abroad together. We went to Cyprus and had an amazing time zooming through the Troodos mountains in a sports car from Pathos to Ayia Napa as the sun set and generally having an amazing time free from everyone else, just being ourselves and being together.
And the future…..?
This year is the one, I can feel it :) It may be my obsession with even numbers, or maybe it's the fact that we have a plan! This will be the year we finally buy our house and then Kev is tasked with popping the question! We know marriage and babies are on the cards but it's more a matter of when rather than if - my only proviso is I'm married before the pitter patter of tiny feet arrives!
Want to share your love story? [email protected]
tagged in Marriage Love long distance relationship