Most of you have already heard the infamous story of how Craig & Chelley met, but in case you haven't, here it goes and then some. You'll still want to be sure to have Craig tell his animated version 😝 

Who knew a typical spring Saturday in Brooklyn would become one of our favorite love stories?

Tracia and I were out and about when we ran into Aaron, a friend of ours who happened to be a bus driver. We jumped on the bus and chopped it up with him as he continued his route. Being a bus driver in Brooklyn, AQ always had a story so it was a guaranteed good time when you bumped into him. At the end of his shift, he invited us to hang out a while longer so we joined him upstairs in the depot. We're upstairs laughing and joking around when all of a sudden the depot walls started to shake! We looked up to see what the cause of all the commotion was and it was Craig who'd just slammed the phone down so hard, we all jumped. Yes, pay phones were still a thing, ha! Once AQ realized who it was, he immediately excused himself so he could try to calm Jenkins down. He knew he was about to jump in his car and make the drive home to the Bronx. Good call, AQ, not allowing him to get behind the wheel in that state of mind. AQ managed to get Jenkins calm enough to join him in a game of pool, so our attention now shifted to the pool table. While waiting for his turn, Craig began to tell a story about his brother being upset with him because he didn't buy him a gold chain for his birthday. Then came THE GAME CHANGER! I saw was a smile come across Craig's face and this sistah was done! I started poking Trace in her side and kept saying I gotta have him, oh my goodness, did you see his smile? Girl!!! So now AQ turns around, sees me actin' a fool 😍 as well as he sees where my eyes are focused and he gave a slight grin and nod. The next thing I know we're headed downstairs to grab something quick to eat at McDonalds. Did your boy order a cup of tea? Had me looking greedy with a whole value meal in front of me. We ate, he drank *insert eye roll 🙄*, then it was time to call it a night. Craig and I exchanged numbers and we all went on our way. Before I could get tucked in, my phone was ringing. Checked the caller ID, y'all know what I'm talkin' about, and hesitated. It was him, aaahhhhh, yep actin' a fool again 😝. Do I answer or just let him leave a message? So I calmly sat down on my bed and reached for the phone and we haven't stopped talking since ❤️

Btw...I later found out that Craig saw me a year prior but couldn't approach me because he was married. He was able to describe the day just as I remembered. Yes, hanging out with AQ and Trace at the depot but outside on the deck. All I can say is look at God, everything in His time.

From here, we began to build a life we love. Far from perfect, just two people who refuse to give up on each other.

As with most relationships, we've endured our share of trials and tribulations. Some that were meant to and may possibly for some, tear us apart. Each time the devil got busy, we chose love. We chose not to let any weapons formed against us to prosper. We learned how to navigate parenthood together, probably one of our first lessons since Tamia was Craig's world from day one. Definitely one of the reasons I fell so hard for him, I simply loved how he loved his baby girl. Enjoying these roles together, we continued to add on to our family. So along came, Josh. As parents, you experience unconditional love on a different level. Mia and Josh kept us busy and on our toes. We laugh now about all the creative ways we worked together to balance parenting, work life and everything in between. Again, be sure to get the animated versions from Craig. 

One of our biggest accomplishments was moving from NY to CT. Why? We wanted to provide a better life for our children. To live our American dream. This was a big deal and huge sacrifice for us because we'd both be commuting back to NY for work. Fortunately for me, I was able to land a new job within 6 months of the move. In addition to this, I had never lived in a house prior to this move, so I relied heavily on Craig to lead the way. Of course with a new house, you want to fill it up, so along came Maddie and a host of new friends and beautiful friendships. Some lasted and some were just for a reason or season. 

Of course there were plenty more lessons in between, but we stayed the course. Through the growing pains of parenting three different personalities, learning as parents from these three different personalities, the different shifts in how we balanced our lives as parents and husband and wife, lay offs, strikes-'cause you gotta stand for something, financial woes, navigating our way through the "boring" stage, realizing the monotony and making the necessary changes to maintain our union. We've recently gone through our "in sickness and health" stage. By far more than any experience we could've ever imagined. Not knowing if "til death do us part" was coming sooner rather than later. At the helm of it ALL was God and our love. We turned our worries into worship and God turned our battles into blessings.

We thank you, our parents, our children, our families and friends. You are OUR VILLAGE and we thank you for your excellent examples of how to be good people and to keep our union strong and resilient. Here's to 20+ more years of love, like and continued blessings. 

Taking all the lessons learned into Chapter 20...the best is yet to come.