Felecia & Demond

“We met his first night on campus. It was his freshman year and my sophomore year. Me and my girls were hanging outside our dorm when some of our mutual male friends drove by. They were in a truck, so a few of them were on the back. (My sweetie was one of them.) Introductions went around, and he said his name softly (he’s very quiet). I “misheard” him and basically called him by the wrong name for several weeks before he even bothered to correct me. (His name is ‘Demond,’ but I was calling him ‘Demone.’ I even used that name when I would call his floor at his dorm, and he would answer.) We played a bit of cat-mouse for weeks as we built a friendship. One night, he ran to my dorm to buy a book I was selling. No sooner had I hung up the phone and got back to my room, seems like I was getting the call that I had a visitor. My best friend from home (who was also my roommate) was doing my hair. So I went down to the lobby with a towel wrapped around my head. There he was — just as cute as ever and totally out of breath. From there, we built a great friendship. I managed to be in the right place at the right time for him during some very difficult times (for example, I was somehow selling pizzas in his dorm lobby the night he was informed that his father had passed.) We didn’t actually date for another two years! I’m so glad he waited for me! So he’s been my boyfriend for 27 years and my husband for 25 years! We have two handsome sons (one is a bilateral amputee who went viral for winning his state wrestling championship). We are embarking on an empty nest and excited about new adventures.”

—Felicia Morris Hawthorne

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