“Nick and Mikki went to the same high school. They knew one another, but never even exchanged small talk. Nick is two years younger than Mikki, so he had a few years left after she graduated. Nick got his diploma at 17 and turned 18 while in boot camp after joining the United States Marine Corps.

While in California for training, Nick injured his knee. It wasn’t until this forced downtime that Nick would connect with Mikki on MySpace. Mikki actually ignored Nick’s attempts to call until she felt she could do so no more. She finally gave in and after their first conversation, Nick recalls telling his best friend that he would marry her.

A month later, Nick was home to visit. The two began dating and spent the following ten months spending as much time together as possible. This meant long commutes from West Virginia all the way back to duty in South Carolina. Nick even flew Mikki’s father to Savannah, GA to ask permission, in person, for Mikki’s hand in marriage.

Mikki and Nick now live in Florida, but remain avid West Virginia University fans. They reside there with their two boys and both believe “everything happens for a reason.” Mikki insists that if Nick hadn’t been injured, their paths may never have crossed, so in a lot of ways-in something unfortunate, something beautiful came to be!”

Ashton Kelley Photography

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