The couple met in a 7th grade journalism class in 1993 at Waterford Middle School. In a twist of fate their teacher, Mr. Reed, paired them up to write articles together for the school newspaper. They also spent some free time outside of class learning about page design and layout (on paper - not computer!) and accompanied each other on a few after-school excursions up and down the sidewalks of Waterford selling advertising space to any business owner who was brave enough to hear the sales pitch. From all of these experiences an unshakable friendship formed between them. Parents, siblings, and old friends still remember their countless hours on the phone, swimming at Brent's house, and summer concerts at the local county fair. When the time for high school arrived they went separate ways with Katie at Hughson and Brent at Oakdale. Golf and FFA Projects would occupy much of Katie's time while Brent kept himself busy playing with guitars and taking apart computers but they still remained good friends all four years and went to each other's graduation ceremonies, parties, and a few birthday gatherings in between.
Following both of their high school graduations, life again took each of them down their own individual paths with Brent pursuing a college education and work in Information Technology while Katie proudly served her country in the United States Navy and then continued her service as a civilian working at various military bases around the nation. As children of the 1980's, Brent and Katie will never forget the movie, "E.T." and so it should be no surprise that both of them would often "phone home" to find out from each other's parents how to get reconnected whenever one of their email addresses, phone numbers or mailing addresses had changed. Their solid friendship surpassed all challenges during this period in their busy lives and each time that one of them got back in touch with the other after a brief time away, the stories, laughs, and sometimes even tears, would pick up exactly where they had left off from their previous conversation.
In 2013 the tides changed once more with Katie returning to her roots in California with two beautiful children and the prospect of starting a new phase of life following ten years of service to the United States government. It was during this time that the symbol of a Butterfly would & take on symbolic meaning for Katie as the butterfly goes through a complete rebirth during its earthly existence so that it can continue to thrive. Brent would also begin a new & stage of life around this same point of time by trading in his box of tools for a bag of textbooks as he began teaching & Computer Science at MJC following the completion of a Masters degree. Given all of the new changes happening in their lives, Brent and Katie now had an opportunity to communicate on a more regular basis and slowly their Friendship blossomed into a Relationship as the two realized that not only were they Friends, and Best Friends, but had been destined as Soulmates. Their first official "date" was a dinner at Cool Hand Luke's in late 2013 and following a steady courtship the two moved in together during the summer of 2015.
Brent proposed to Katie on Christmas morning of 2018 with the help of Katie's son Shane and her daughter, Chloe all working together on a "top secret mission" that included a special song and video presentation designed to ensure that their Mom would be completely surprised and undoubtedly accept Brent's invitation to spend the rest of their lives together.
A sincere appreciation for music has always been one special trait that the couple has shared with each other. Brent created and gave a "mix tape" to Katie on the night of their 8th grade graduation dance that included everything from Chris LeDoux to Guns N' Roses and now, in more recent times, when Luke Bryan's song, "Play It Again" plays on the radio, Katie's memories drift back to the days of high school and driving over to Brent's house only to find him listening to music in his bedroom with headphones over his ears and a guitar on his lap.They can both still recite from memory each and every word to a 1991 hit song from country singer Trisha Yearwood which tells the story of another girl named "Katie" and sends a strong message of hope near the end of the song with the very last lyric proclaiming, "What's meant to be will always find a way, She's gonna marry that boy someday." Katie looked into Brent's eyes and sang those exact words loudly with him while watching Ms. Yearwood perform it live in Sacramento during a Garth Brooks concert they attended together in the Spring of 2015.
Going all the way back to 1994, one year after the happy couple had first met for the very first time as wide-eyed kids in 7th grade, a popular band known as The Eagles announced their reunion as a group and would start a large successful tour once again to perform their music all around the world for the first time in a long time. A well known recording of their initial reunion concert all together in Los Angeles shows one of the founding band members announcing to the packed crowd, "We never broke up-- we just took a 14-year vacation." Brent and Katie also like to think that a life-long connection between them was never in doubt-- it just took a 25-year journey to figure out the details. Brent and Katie, now one quarter of a century & from when this tale first began, are still working together on a writing project. This time it's for a new chapter in the story of their life together. Happily Ever After.
