Truly, there is a one-in-a-million chance of spending one’s first and last days with your sweetheart. Ours is a story that began in late 1952, on a cold night with light snow falling over Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. I’m Carol Black Leamon, and I spent the third day of my life in the hospital nursery alongside Michael Ray Leamon on his very first day. We likely spent those first few days ogling each other, but the next three decades would be a series of "near misses" before it was finally our time.

Mike and I both grew up in the Southside area of Winston-Salem. Our families knew each other, and during those formative years, Mike played football while I cheered for the Tiny Grayhounds. We knew each other, but we weren't really "friends." Even after my family moved to Ardmore, our paths crossed constantly through mutual friends and church, but the timing was never quite right.

In high school, Mike attended Parkland while I went to our big rival, Reynolds. My loyalties were divided; I tended to like the Southside boys and even dated Mike’s best friend! Years later, we ran into each other downtown while working part-time at Robert’s Men’s Shop and the Mother & Daughter Store. We shared a dinner break at Archie’s Restaurant and I thought we hit it off—I even gushed to my co-workers about him. But Mike was "on a break" from his current girlfriend and they reconciled shortly after. It still wasn't our time.

Life marched on through separate "young" marriages. I became a single mom to my daughter, Kacie, for ten years. At one point, I even dated Mike’s business partner, but Mike and I paid no attention to one another.

Everything changed on Father’s Day, 1986. I had sworn off men when I noticed an attractive man moving into the apartment above mine. It was Mike! We became "just friends," and I vowed never to date a neighbor. However, our daughters became friends, and on July 1st, while picking them up from a baseball game, we shared our first kiss under the fireworks. The sparks created their own fireworks, and my resolve vanished.

We married in 1988, and it was finally our time. Professionally, we became a team as well. I joined Mike as a real estate appraiser, and in 1995 we opened Leamon & Associates. We moved to Bermuda Run in 1993 and ran our company together for over 30 years until my retirement this year.

Today, we enjoy a wonderful life. Our daughter Stephanie lives in Holly Springs with her husband Steven and children, Sophie and Xander. In a beautiful full-circle moment, our daughter Kacie is set to marry her fiancé, Michael Tyler, in Bermuda Run on Valentine’s Day 2025 —the 9th anniversary of their engagement.

We are two souls destined to be together. We pray our love story ends the way it began: with us side by side.