Duncan and I have not had an easy relationship, but we continue to choose each other no matter what. We started out just having mutual friends in High school after I moved to his town my junior year. First of all, it wasn’t easy being the “new kid” my junior year of high school. So we had a mutual friend named Jake who was trying to get us together, but we didn’t know it at the time. Fast forward a couple weeks and Duncan had to have a surgery to remove scar tissue from his knee. The surgery was successful and he was able to return back to school, but in crutches and a leg cast. Jake was supposed to be helping him carry papers and books around, but kind of just used it as an excuse to get out of class. So anyways, it comes time for senior pictures of some sort and I’m in line to get my photo done and Jake walks in with Duncan. I still don’t know him at this point, I’ve only heard of him a few times. They get in line behind me and I’m talking to Jake, while Duncan is kind of just minding his business behind jake, still in crutches and a cast. He drops all his papers, and literally like a cheesy high school love movie, I pick up his papers and handed them to him. Our eyes met, we smiled, he said thank you, and I noted in my head that he was very cute. Fast forward a couple months, we still haven’t talked to each other, we still don’t even know each other really. Duncan added me on Snapchat from quick add, and we started talking. At first it was just the “you’re friends with Jake right?” And stuff like that, but then we were talking more and more and found out that we are literally the same person. And then we realized that we actually had met a couple months back at the senior photos and then it clicked for both of us. (I don’t know if you believe in destiny but I sure do after this whole situation)
We hung out the rest of the year and moved in together after we graduated high school. We got a dog and named him Jace. Life was fantastic! We had talked about getting married multiple times, we just didn’t have the money to do it. We thought about maybe just waiting until we were both out of school to get married, but we didn’t want to wait that long. Fast forward to dec of 2019 we found out we were expecting!! I was over the moon, but scared. We went to our ultrasound and found out it was actually twins!! We would be having twins! At first, we were both very scared. When we found out we were having TWO babies instead of one, for some reason it made things easier on us. I’m not sure how, but we both decided we would be the best parents and that we weren’t scared anymore. The doctors noticed something was a little off, so they sent me for blood work. That came back wonky, so they sent me for more a few days later. Duncan and I were at breakfast planning the perfect wedding that we could have two babies participate in, when I got a phone call from the doctor. Unfortunately, I lost both babies. I went in for more testing to find out why, and the doctor told me that we would most likely not have any babies, maybe ever. We were heartbroken. It took me months to get back to normal, but Duncan was there every step of the way. I blamed myself. Constantly wondering if I did something wrong. Duncan was hurting too, but he was strong when I couldn’t be. The next Christmas, on the anniversary of losing our babies, he got me “forget me not” seeds. “Forget me not” plants are something the loss community uses to signify that we will never forget about our babies. When Covid hit, I was out of a job because I worked in a restaurant. Duncan worked as a maintenance worker at a campground, and they were still open. We were able to pay our bills and things, but not without using credit cards. Throughout Covid, we tried to just make the most of our time that we had together. In December of 2020 we decided it was finally time for us to go to the courthouse and say our vows in front of complete strangers. This was not ideal, but we wanted to be married!! And we didn’t have the money to have a big wedding. I was just about to start school to go for my bachelors degree, so it just wasn’t good timing for a huge wedding.
In 2021, we found out that we were pregnant again. I was immediately scared, but when I told him I was pregnant, he was soooo happy! We went to the ultrasound, and everything was great!! Baby was on track growing and due date was November 30, 2022. We didn’t want to know what it was, until it drove us nuts and we HAD to find out. About 6 weeks in, I started getting extremely ill. I was constantly throwing up, couldn’t stay up out of bed very long, and I was losing a lot of weight. I was worried something was wrong with the baby, so I went in to the doctor and they diagnosed me with something called “hyperemesis gravidarum” which is a severe sickness during pregnancy that can cause organ failure or death. I was super sensitive to smells, lights, and sights. I was nauseous all the time, and it was awful. I was trying to enjoy my pregnancy but it was hard when faced with a sickness like this. Because we had lost babies before, it was always in the back of my mind that this was going to end badly too, so i was trying not to get my hopes up too much. Because of that, we were trying to wait until I was visibly showing the pregnancy to announce it to family and friends. However, life had other plans. It’s Easter weekend, 2021, and I always take my grandmother flowers on Easter. It’s something I’ve done since I moved out on my own, so it wasn’t anything new. When I get to my grandmothers home, I find that my mom is by her side and my grandfather is too. She is very sick, and clearly in the last stages of her life. I’m heartbroken because my grandma is my best friend! And how did this happen so fast? I stepped outside to call Duncan, and I’m having a panic attack on the phone. He calmed me down, as he always did. And i was able to go back inside and be strong for my family. I knew I had to tell my grandmother that I was going to have a baby. I didn’t care who heard me, I just needed her to know. I told her all about what names we had thought of, and if we wanted a boy or a girl. I told her how far along we were and any other details. I told her I needed her to fight so she could meet this sweet baby. That was the last time I saw my grandmother alive. She passed away a few days later. Duncan helped me more than I can even begin to describe. I was going through extreme loss, while also being pregnant with my rainbow baby and experiencing the worst sickness of my life. I was going to the hospital once or twice a week, for the entirety of my pregnancy. I lost a total of 45 pounds. Duncan never once backed down. He always stood by me and got me through that pregnancy. We had our beautiful baby girl on December 2, 2021. We named her Carter Michelle “Irene” Curll, after my grandmother. This year, we finally bought our tiny little starter home. It’s not much, but it’s close to my school and has a big yard for our dog. And I’m very thankful that it’s ours. I’m now in nursing school, and Duncan works at a tire retread facility in our hometown. We have a 1 year old baby girl, and it seems that life keeps telling us we can’t have a dream wedding. We want so badly to have a big wedding with lots of family and friends, but we just don’t have the time or money right now. This wedding would be a dream for us. Imagine our little baby girl as a flower girl! She would be so cute in her little dress! Thank you for taking the time to read this. Even if you don’t pick us, now you have our story.