Annie Elise

And just like that, it was like no time had passed at all.

They just fell right back into it.

Almost as if their breakup had just been this tiny little pause in their grander story.

Which, I don't know, I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder, right?

Maybe.

So for Keith, that breakup really had been the wake-up call that he needed.

He realized that Darlene wasn't just someone that he had loved.

She was the one.

She was the person he wanted to spend his life with.

So in 1999, he got down on one knee, and he proposed to Darlene.

They got married not long after, and they started living that picture-perfect Texas dream life, the one that Darlene had always imagined.

They even bought a house right next door to Keith's parents.

Darlene also went back to school, she became a nurse, and Keith landed a very solid job as an engineer with a local electric utility company.

And sure enough, before long, their family grew.

Three boys, in fact.

Chase, Cody, and Cade.

With that, Darlene scaled back her nursing hours so that she could focus on raising the boys and taking care of the home, while Keith really worked to provide for them and became the breadwinner.

And it was honestly the kind of life that people dream about, right?

I mean, small town roots, three beautiful kids, a solid marriage, a house full of love.

What more could you want for a love story?