I Married My High School Sweetheart; People Are Making Speculations About Us

I was 16 when my cell phone rang one Friday night as I was standing in the parking lot of our local Blockbuster, stacked high with DVDs. I ran to answer it, startled to hear a nervous voice on the other end asking, “Is it fall?”

I didn’t know that my physics lab partner had given my number to one of his friends. That night, Daniel showed up at my house for a movie night I was having with some friends. He waited until everyone had left and kissed me goodnight on my porch; at that point, we didn’t even know each other’s names, but eventually he ended up taking his.

Over the years I have found that people have many assumptions about high school lovers. The lines seem to blur, and people ask wide-eyed questions and comments that sometimes catch me off guard. I’ve learned to expect them. I treasure the sweet ones and laugh at the bolder ones—the kind that would make my grandfather turn in his grave.

Autumn Gavora and her husband have created many memories together over the years.

Courtesy of Autumn Gavora

We didn’t get married because I was pregnant

The most common assumption? We must have had a house full of kids already, at least one in high school. I did the math and we could have had a sophomore if we had started early, which is crazy when you think about it! But the truth always surprises people. No, we didn’t get married because teenage pregnancyno matter how many of our classmates placed bets. In fact, we were among the last in our class to have a child. We welcomed our first little one just last year, when we were both 34.

Living in the Bible Belt, it is common to marry younger due to religious or family values. Several people have asked if we met on a mission trip and got married right after returning. Others believe we got married on live together without “living in sin.”

Right? My husband grew up Christian, and I converted after we were married. We were engaged at 22, but I insisted on finishing college before we walked down the aisle. We exchanged vows during spring break of our senior year, and I graduated a month later. So no, I wasn’t a teen bride.

Autumn Gavora and her husband got engaged when they were 22.

Photo credit: Schellie Hogan

We don’t have an open marriage

“You must be bored. Do you have open marriage?” Several people asked me this question, or variations of it, when I was in graduate school, as did my coworkers. I was offended when someone first asked it, but later on I couldn’t help but find it funny.

No, we are not in an open relationship. We are happily monogamous — and I, an only child, am not good at sharing! Some people think that we can’t fully experience life because we’ve been with the same person for over half of our lives. But the truth is that we have more fun together because we know each other so well and trust each other completely. I promise there are many ways to avoid boredom in marriage when you’re with the right person.

Autumn Gavora and her husband recently became parents to their first child.

Courtesy of Autumn Gavora

Meeting young people means we have so many memories together

As is the norm, we did everything wrong. We were so we were young when we metyet we were drawn to each other. Over the years we learned from each other through lots of laughter, tears and yes, arguments.

We became best friends, holding a time capsule filled with memories that most couples never share. Now, 18 years later, we are married with a 1-year-old boy, living the life I once dreamed of when we sat together in class. It’s like our love story was something out of a fairy tale, a rare and beautiful journey that I am lucky to have experienced.