Savannah's Home and Design started with two young teenagers in a high school cafeteria…
Not quite as romantic as other love stories but it’s our ours nether less.
Carlin and I met when we were 16 years old. We attended the same high school in Fall River, Massachusetts. Carlin as he describes it “noticed me in the school halls and in an adjoining classroom to his,”
I’m not really sure how to explain how our first contact occurred but it was sort of very casual. My friend and I were looking for a place to sit at lunch and as I was scanning the tables as my eyes locked onto this particular guy's eyes. He just stared at me with a smirk on his face and I’m not sure why but I immediately asked him “are those seats open?”
I think he may have slid several lunch trays on the table aside clearing a spot for us.
He said “yes it is” all giddy.
That was our first interaction.
From there we talked and I took his phone number. We talked on the phone many times and I really liked talking with him. I had just been burned by my last boyfriend so I was pretty closed off and wanted to take things very slow. He describes our interactions it as “chasing his own tall.” I guess you could say I played hard to get.
Carlin was a jock. He was pretty popular and a star baseball player at the school. While I was a nerd and introverted. I was in math club. I think that sums it up. But we had a whole lot in common too. Both of us grew up in similar ways and had experiences that made us grow up fast. We could definitely connect on deeper matters even at 16. We hung out a few times and he and I met some of our family members.
At some point, I “ghosted” Carlin. I stopped answering his calls and I stopped calling him. I basically avoided him. It was honestly fear on my part. At that point, we had become pretty great friends with romantic feelings but I got cold feet. I realize now how dramatic this all sounds since we were teenagers at the time.
I had a change of heart after talking with my cousin Erica about Carlin. Erica and I were more like sisters. She has since passed on but Carlin does credit her for our relationship. You could say she was somewhat of an angel even on Earth.
I called Carlin up and he was pretty annoyed with me. I mean I ignored this guy for weeks and here I was calling him like “Hey what’s going?”
He got over it though and I asked him if he liked to date me. We made it official on that call.
Since then, we have been together for nearly 20 years. During our time together he wrote me endless love letters I would read in class. I still have most of them.
I’m proud to say that we have never broken up. Not once. That’s pretty impressive for a nearly 20 year relationship.
Carlin and I grew up together and truly saw each other through all the phases of life. From transitioning from teen to young adults, to parents and business owners. We always grew together in our goals, values, and vision for our lives. We shared the same aspirations and desire to become entrepreneurs. We have always been each other cheerleaders. We truly have only relied on one another in all we have done.
We have always been friends first and genuinely enjoy being together. There has always been a magnetic effect between us. We can’t stay away from each other and want to spend all our time together. Now we share that with our daughter.
We were very fortunate that we were able to experience life together before we had our daughter. We traveled together, went through different jobs and changes always leaning on one another.
Savannahs Home and Design was built on that same foundation of love, support, dedication and resilience. We pour love into all we do including each other. Creating a home is like a love letter to the homeowners. It’s always written with love and care. It's how we express our talent, our passion, and our shared commitment to each other in a unified effort to create something special for others to receive.
It’s our love language that we hope to share with others.