For those of you that do not know the story…my wife, Shannon, was my first girlfriend. It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade, also known as “The Summer Of Love” ha ha. Everything was perfect that summer. Flowers smelled better, bluebirds sang louder, church camp was more fun…you get the picture. But, unfortunately, Shannon is two years younger than me, so when the summer ended and I started high school, it was not cool to date someone in middle school…so I quit her.
Remember the days when you could just “quit” someone? No drawn out discussions, no begging or pleading, just “quitting.” And it never came from the actual person. No, you would either get a note, or a friend would let you know that you had been “quit.” Anyway, when Shannon made it to high school, we got back together…for a whole year! It was the perfect year. Flowers smelled even better, bluebirds sang much louder than in the summertime and every Sunday I was guaranteed to have someone to sit by in church. Then, unfortunately, I started my senior year and thought I needed to be “unattached,” so I quit her again.
Actually by this time it was called breaking up. Man I was a jerk! The funny thing is that no matter who I dated, I would always use Shannon as the standard, and nobody ever compared to her. After high school, we went our separate ways, but remained really close friends. I guess we got tired of wishing we were together and decided to seal the deal once and for all.
Shannon graduated college in May of 1997 and we got married that November. We celebrated 10 years this past November. How awesome is that? With Shannon, and my three amazing kids, Sam, Gracie and Charlie, can life get any better? I submit to you it cannot. Happy Valentines day.
-Bart
AWESOME hair.
Oh my gosh, that Favorite’s picture is greatness!
That is awesome, thanks for sharing that story. What a beautiful family! Shannon, love the bangs-those were the days!!!!
Charity
I love this Valentine’s Day post! You have a beautiful wife and family!!
Bart. Are you sporting a mullet? That is AWESOME. I hope you didn’t break her heart. Her achy breaky heart.
Frank….
Thank you sir…that may have been the funniest comment on any blog EVER!!!! You sir are now the official 7th member of MercyMe in my opinion….we will have to put it to a vote, and Bart may be voting against you now.
mike
What a picture of the two of you, I remmber those days. Bart&Shannon you have a beautiful family. Happy Valentines Day!
Bart & Shannon – TLA!
You know it was love for all of us back then if we all got passed those hairstyles!
Smashing family!
Man, do I remember those days. Thanks for sharing the pics and the story. You have a beautiful family. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Wow! It’s so cool that you were able to remain close friends through all of that.
Bart – what a great story. With pictures even! I laughed out loud when you said “I quit her”. Those middle and high schools years were sure interesting times in retrospect. I know I made more than one stupid mistake. I usually blame it on John Hughes for making movies like “Pretty in Pink” and “The Breakfast Club”. Thanks for sharing the memories. You have a beautiful family.
I love the pic Bart! Gotta love the 80’s/early 90’s. Anyway, that is such an awesome story! I hope you had a fabulous Valentines Day.
Sandi
You are SO blessed. The two of you sound good singing together on the Lullabies cd. Bart you should be very thankful that Shannon is a nice patient person(and she must love you alot). This is a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing both pictures.
Awesome glasses.
dude, all I have to say …… Thank God for Lasik…..
wes (the first mm crew guy to comment on the mmblog)
Yeah, I get a cookie…..a weight watchers one….