🤎20 Years Later, I’d still chose you…..
May 17th 2026
Twenty Years Strong Written by April G.
This song and its lyrics were created with love as part of Big Heart Real Life. The words, ideas, and creative direction belong to me and are shared here as part of this cozy little space. 🤎
Some love stories begin loudly.
Ours began quietly… twice.
The first time we met was 32 years ago in Tampa, Florida. We were young, and there was an instant connection that neither one of us ever really forgot. But life happened the way life often does. We lost contact. We both married other people. We both lived through marriages that were not kind, not healthy, and not what either of us truly needed.
–🤎–
Then somehow, by chance or maybe by grace, we found each other again 20 years ago.
And this time… we stayed.
Not long after, I became pregnant with our daughter Emma. At 12 weeks pregnant, both Emma and I almost lost our lives. I was in ICU, and things were very serious. There are moments in life that mark you forever, and that was one of them.
–🤎–
But in that room, I experienced something I still cannot fully explain. God visited me there. Clear as day, I felt Him tell me:
“It’s not your time. I’m not finished with you.”
The next morning, when things should have gone differently, I breathed life back into my body. Emma survived. I survived. And life kept moving forward. Praise God!
Like every real marriage, ours was not built in perfect moments. It was built in survival.
We have lived through job losses, heartbreak, sickness, moves, broken-down cars, financial stress, family pain, and seasons where darkness filled spaces between us that almost destroyed what we had built. There were walls. Hurt. Distance. Exhaustion. There were moments where divorce felt closer than healing.
–🤎–
But somehow, underneath all of it, there was still love.
Not the shiny kind people post online.
The stubborn kind.
The “I’m still here” kind.
The choosing each other again kind.
Eventually, we renewed our vows in Navarre, Florida. Not because our marriage had always been easy, but because we had fought hard to find each other again through all the noise.
–🤎–
And then life hit us again.
Health struggles.
More job loss.
Family drama.
And eventually, no place to live except our camper.
But strangely enough… that season became one of the sweetest chapters of our lives.
We live full-time in our camper now, and honestly? We love it. Life is simpler. Slower. More intentional. We dream together again. We laugh more. We appreciate little things more.
Now we’re working toward getting a newer camper someday, maybe some land, and hopefully building our own RV park together.
So we can bring happiness and less stress to others.
–🤎–
And here we are.
20 years later.
Still imperfect.
Still human.
Still having moments.
But softer now.
Humbled now.
Grateful now.
–🤎–
And sometime this year, we plan to renew our vows again.
Not because life became perfect.
But because after everything…
I would still choose him.
Again.
–🤎–
And again.
–🤎🤎–
And again.
–🤎🤎🤎–
Happy 18th Anniversary (20 years together), I can’t wait for the next 20! I love you so much, Jamey! You have given my life adventures and memories. God knew what he was doing!
May 17th, 2008
🤎Gentle Reminder:🤎
Love is rarely built in grand gestures.
Most of the time, it’s built in ordinary Tuesdays.
In shared exhaustion.
In inside jokes.
In “did you eat yet?”
In staying.
In trying again.
In choosing each other quietly over and over.
Love Through Real Life 🤍
Marriage is not built only in the easy moments.
It is built in the ordinary Tuesdays, the hard conversations, the hospital visits, the exhaustion, the forgiveness, the laughter after tears, and the choice to keep showing up for each other again and again.
This little printable was created for couples who have lived some life together. Not perfect couples. Real ones. The kind who have weathered storms, learned lessons the hard way, and still choose love anyway.
Inside you’ll find reconnecting questions, cozy anniversary ideas, reflection page, and little moments meant to help you slow down and remember why you chose each other in the first place.
Because love after hard things deserves to be celebrated too.
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