GASTONIA, N.C. — They were children when they first met: He the ring bearer and she the flower girl in a family friend’s wedding.
Now 17 years later, the two walked down a church aisle for another wedding — their own.
You can almost see the misery on his five-year-old face. Hers, however, is beaming with pride.
When family told Adrian Franklin he’d have to be in the wedding with little Brooke?
“I was devastated, I was like ‘No, tell me I don’t have to walk down the aisle with her,’” said Adrian.
Adrian was a shy little boy, but Brooke had her sights set.
“He couldn’t stand me,” said Brooke.
“She had a crush on me but she got on my nerves I can remember that,” said Adrian.
She would chase him, he would hide. She’d want to play, but he didn’t want any part.
What better beginning to a storybook ending — including their proposal.
“He actually had my whole family and his whole family hide. So when it happened they all came out screaming. It was just the best proposal ever,” said Brooke.
The two met in the church, they reconnected in middle school in the church and in high school their paths crossed again in the church.
As a boy, that aisle might as well have been the green mile for Adrian.
Two weeks ago, as a man, the same aisle was a dream come true.
“We’ve had people tell us we’re young,” said Adrian “And that’s all right. We accept that, But at the same time we know it’s God ordained and for God to bring our steps together this far, we know our steps have been ordered by the Lord.”
This fate might not have been sealed on his face back then, but then again, maybe it was.
