Emma + Dylan, The Valley Estate
I’ve never really known if I believe in soulmates. Not in the there’s one person somewhere in the universe who was specifically made for you kind of way, anyway.
Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it’s timing. Maybe it’s chemistry. Maybe two people just happen to cross paths at exactly the right moment. Or maybe Chandler Bing had it right. Maybe we meet people, fall in love, and then choose each other over and over again.
But then I photograph a love story like this one, and I wonder. They were 14 years old when they found each other. Different schools. Mutual friends. Two kids whose paths happened to cross, and somehow, almost 15 years later, I was standing there photographing their wedding. And there’s something incredibly special about that.
Because when you meet someone at 14, you don’t just grow old together. You grow up together first.
They’ve watched each other become adults. They’ve lived through the awkward teenage years, finishing school, figuring out who they are, changing, growing and becoming completely different versions of the two kids who first met all those years ago. And through every version, they’ve kept choosing each other. Most people hope they’ll find someone they can grow old with.
These two got something even rarer. They found someone they could grow up with, too. And maybe that’s the part of soulmates I can believe in. Not necessarily that somewhere in the stars it was decided that these two people had to find each other. But that somehow, amongst billions of people, they crossed paths ridiculously young, and then spent the next 15 years choosing not to let go.
Now they get something most of us would consider the greatest gift of finding your person so young:
More time.
More ordinary Tuesdays.
More silly dad jokes.
More adventures.
More milestones.
More memories.
More versions of each other to fall in love with.
They’ve already spent almost half their lives together. And they’re only just getting started. Maybe that’s fate. Maybe that’s choice. Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
Whatever you want to call it, it’s pretty fucking special.
