Celebrating 50 years together. There’s a story behind that, he told me. Wanna hear it?

Are you kidding?!, I said. You bet.

As he tells it,  she was just 17 years old when he attended a wedding in which she was a bridesmaid. Upon meeting her for the first time, he proposed.

She laughed it off and said no. I mean, she was 17 and who did this guy think he was, after all?

Never one to back down from a challenge, he looked her square in the eye and said, “I’m only going to ask you three times and then I’ll never ask again. You’ve already turned me down once, so that leaves two more chances.”

Being the savvy girl she was, she opted for a few dates instead of a ring. And he kindly obliged.

And then he asked again. To which she replied, no. Again.

(Did I mention this guy was stubborn and not easily deterred?)

So the courtship continued and, feeling brave, he asked once more. As it turns out, the third time really is …. well … charming. And so are they.

Photographing the two of them, hearing their stories and witnessing the ease and devotion that fifty years has nurtured left a giant mark on my soul. If it’s possible to have a couples crush, then they are mine. And I’m fairly certain I took far more away from their session than I ever could give through imagery.

Congratulations, John and Joyce!