Loving Day celebrates June 12, 1967, when the US Supreme Court ruled to disband all anti-miscegenation laws.
These laws forbid interracial marriages and were mainly focused on relationships between Caucasian and non-Caucasian individuals. They were on a state-by-state basis. Many states banned laws against interracial marriage by 1967, but the results of Loving v. Virginia struck down the laws in the remaining 16 states.
We are happy to have a reason to celebrate interracial and all types of couples on this day.
Brittany & Alfred
Alfred and I met in high school. Officially, we met when I was a junior and he was a senior. I had known of him for years, though. He was cute, quiet, older, had an old muscle car that he was fixing up himself, and he was way cooler than I ever was. Our fates collided his final year of high school when he joined the student council (where I had, of course, been a member my entire high school career). He ended up sitting right behind me the entire year. He barely spoke despite my chatty pestering until one day close to the end of the year—he did. He started talking and didn’t stop. We went on our first date shortly before he graduated, and we’ve been together ever since.
Through college, through moves, through sickness, through hilarity… he’s been my sweetheart for over half of my life. And he is still pretty cute. And really really cool.
Liza & Sonny
My husband and I met in San Antonio when I was 18 and he was 23. He was in the Air Force and worked in the same squadron as my Dad. I first met my husband when my dad took me to watch a squadron softball game, then again when he took me to help cook for a squadron function. That was when we actually got to talk, more than just a hello.
A few weeks later, I sought him out to help me write a history paper in exchange for a home cooked meal. Finding him was no easy task, my dad was off on vacation with my step mother and their daughter and I only knew his first name … and it was a nickname! Luckily, I knew a few people who worked with my dad, so I was able to get signed into the building and had help hunting him down. My description, “His name is Sonny, he has blond hair, blue eyes, likes history and cooked the pig for the picnic.”
My husband has commented that he wonders if my dad knew what he was doing when he introduced us.
My dad always said that he thought prejudice was less prevailant in the military. Whether that is true or not, I don’t really know, but I can’t recall ever being feeling any prejudice against us.
My husband’s Southern family, welcomed me with open arms. I felt lucky because I wasn’t so sure how they were going to feel about me. We have two daughters and are coming up on 33 years of marriage at the end of this week. I am of American/Mexican from Austin, Texas, and my husband is Caucasian from North Carolina.
Brandee & Pete
In 2002, my college roommate had a friend from a different college come visit with his roommate, Pete. I was going to a Christian college at the time and Pete was hoping to meet a nice Christian girl to take to an upcoming Military Ball. I had no intention of dating because I was trying to focus on school, but I thought it would be fun to get all dressed up and go to a Ball. So we started chatting on AOL, quickly became a couple, 9 months later he proposed, and a year later we got married. This July we will be celebrating 14 years of marriage!
Elizabeth & Antwaine
My husband & I met at Eglin AFB, Florida. He had just PCS’d from overseas and neither of us were looking for anything serious. However, we just clicked and had something irreplaceable and so special that we’ve been inseparable since! We now have a handsome son. I couldn’t imagine life without either of them.
Ketu & Todd
We met on Kadena AFB Japan—at the elevator of the dental clinic in 2005. I was 44 years old with my beautiful 4-year-old daughter. The two of us met Ketu as we were transitioning to our new culture. She was beautiful, but I also thought she was leaving so I wasn’t in oolala mode. For her, it was love at first sight —toward my daughter. She took an interest in her thankfully, or I wouldnt have had a chance. Instead of separating from the Air Force, she hung around and we married. Twelve years later with one addtional daughter, my lovely wife is still a beautiful Wow!!!!
Gretchen & Jason
We met on match.com when I was new to the area and he was stationed nearby. I “winked” at him, and I joke that he was probably excited that someone so much younger was interested! (There is a twelve year age difference between us.) It didn’t take us long to fall pretty hard, and we got married on the one year anniversary of our first date. He deployed two months later. Welcome to the Army!
Christy & Kwame
We met at Howl at the Moon on The Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas. I had recently graduated from college and he had just started a medical fellowship in the Air Force. He decided that he wanted to meet some people who were not in the military, so he got a job on the weekends as the bouncer at the bar! His brilliant pickup line included looking at my Missouri license and telling me that he was from Illinois. It took a couple more chance encounters at the bar before I gave him my number. Neither of us thought it would go anywhere, but here we are, over 15 years later!
Joyce & Jake
Ours isn’t a typical fairy tale story, but it’s my favorite one. I had heard about Jake at Officer Development School, and I think we might have met briefly at officer training. The time we remember meeting each other was at an after class ballroom dancing lesson hosted by another student. I brought my sister. Jake brought another girl from class. I honestly can’t tell you much more than that— it was such a brief encounter.
But once we settled in at USUHS— the military medical school in Bethesda, Maryland—we ran in the same tight circle of Navy friends. Ultimately, we became best friends. We studied together (sort of… Jake was always more focused), made dinners together, and even helped each other find dates.
During winter break 2009, I was heading back to Bethesda during a snowstorm and called Jake to see if he wanted to meet up. He had a date lined up but decided to cancel and hang out with me instead. We went out for dinner and drinks at Redwood—a swanky steakhouse downtown—and very naturally had a great time together. There was no awkward first date silence or small talk. Shortly after that, we made a very calculated decision to try to date without ruining a wonderful friendship. At the end of that chapter, I got to marry my best friend. We now live in Okinawa, Japan, raising our sweet boys and doodle.
