Michael & Claire’s

Once Upon a Timemarried on june 18, 2010

Michael & Claire’s

Once Upon a TimeWritten in 2012 in celebration of

their love and their wedding anniversary

was when they were teenagers on a church ski trip at Copper Mountain, Colorado. He knew how to ski. She did not.

He also knew howto flirt.

The first time Michael fell in love with Claire

It was 1995, she was a sophomore at Northwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, and he was a senior at Parkway High school in Bossier City, Louisiana, east of the Red River between the cities. They had a crush on each other. Claire, with her blue eyes, blonde hair and future Homecoming Queen looks, noticed Michael’s long, sandy, brown hair and bottomless confidence.

After he taught her how to ski and the trip ended, he called her. But she was in a serious relationship. Her father, Curt, made up

excuses for her not being there at the moment.

Michael graduated in 1996, Claire in 1998. They would come across updates about each other through friends in college; he attended the Louisiana Tech University campus in Bossier, and she went to Louisiana Tech in Ruston. He heard how she was

in a serious relationship, then married her college boyfriend shortly after graduating. She heard that he eventually got married, in 2002, and had a boy, then a girl.

They had not heard much more beyond that, not until the summer of 2008, when Claire’s younger sister, Cortney, worked with Michael at a church camp and told him he should call her sister. Cortney had a different last name through marriage, so Michael did not know who this Claire was until he put it together and asked if her sister was that Claire. She was that Claire, whom he learned was single following a divorce, exactly like him, and was in Gonzalez, Texas.

And he fell in love with her again. o

At that point, Michael and Claire were not the same people they were in high school. As children, they were

T hey had a crush on each other.

T

“

different; Opposite, in fact.Michael, born on Thanksgiving Day in 1977 in Shreveport, was a

walking — no, running — sugar buzz. His mom, Sylvia, would send him to timeouts in the corner to no avail. He would just sing songs and blow bubbles. He was a social butterfly, active with his mouth and his mind and his hands, putting things together or building things. He would go down the street and work cows with the neighbor, but never too far from his father, John Michael Guyton Sr.

Michael, the kid who had to write Bible verses as a consequence, grew up to be the life of the party, and in high school would love to come home from parties and wake up Sylvia.

“Mom, you’re not going to believe what I did,” he’d say.Michael was always on the go, without the time to tie his shoes.

Claire, however, was more straight-laced. Claire, born on January 9, 1980, did not get into much trouble,

scared to disobey as much as she was of mismatching or uncomfortable socks. Only a bad wardrobe day reminded people that, yes, this little girl was indeed the daughter of Curtis Walton Joiner, and they could

go off like a volcano. She loved all of those camping trips with her family, though she

was the sometimes the unexpected center of attention. One time, they camped along the Potomac River near Washington D.C., and on a hike she rested and put her hand close to a hornet’s nest. She was stung many times, her hand swelled two times its size, and she was taken to the hospital. Another time, the family visited Williamsburg, Virginia, and during a meal at a restaurant a bee flew into her Coke and when she took a drink it stung her.

“Claire, you’re an accident waiting to happen,” Curt told her, shaking his head and the red off his face after her grandfather took the blame.

But more than anything, she was the middle child of three daughters (her older sister, Cara Louise Joiner, and Cortney Lane Young) and she was calm, like her mother, Sally Sanford Joiner. Claire was not quite the athlete like her grandfather, Leo Sanford, who played for the Baltimore Colts, winners of the first-ever NFL Championship in 1958. While Claire was a high school cheerleader and well-liked and didn’t cause trouble, she felt she didn’t have an identity.

She got married soon after she graduated college and got an identity — just not the way she thought. o

Michael had always been a family man, and got married the same year he graduated from college, in 2001. He had two children, John Michael Guyton III, then Ella Mae, children

… he turned to his faith and made a decision …

T

“

as good as he could ask for. The marriage, though, could have been much better. Although he

was a clown, deep down he was sensitive and understanding, and he took her back many times after he felt she hurt him. Ultimately, the marriage ended after about five years.

He moved back home with his parents, had to sell most of his belongings as a result of the divorce, and for a man always so up, he was down. With the help of his parents and the strength he got from his children, he turned to his faith and made a decision.

If I don’t forgive her for what she did, I’m going to be bitter for the rest of my life, he thought.

He forgave, but didn’t forget, and hoped he could meet someone who could see him and understand him for the man that he is.

Meanwhile, Claire married her college boyfriend shortly after they graduated, and it did not work out. They divorced about three years after being married.

She tried several careers and did not know exactly what she wanted to do until she became as Physical Therapy Technician and loved it. She entered and finished the physical therapy program at Louisiana State University and gained much more than a career.

If I want to do something, I just have to put my heart into it, she learned.

She had to put her heart and everything she had into one of the biggest challenges of her life: In 2008, she became addicted to pain killers following a back injury. She failed a drug test and lost her job. This was Claire, the do-no-harm sweetheart.

“I need help,” she

told her family.They helped her find a Christian rehabilitation center in Gonzalez,

Texas, and she improved there, completing her program in about five months. Meanwhile, Cortney had met Michael in Louisiana, and she told Claire about him and said she should talk to him.

“Oh, no, don’t even think about it,” Claire told Cortney. “Not gonna happen.”

Michael called Claire twice, and she finally called him back. They talked for two hours, and near the end of the conversation, she told him why she was in Gonzalez, Texas.

“No. 1, it takes a lot of courage to say you have a problem,” he said, “and No. 2, to do something about it.”

She had planned to go back to Shreveport, and they talked over the phone for two weeks. He fell in love again, able to appreciate her personality more than her looks through their talks.

The night she came back to Shreveport, Michael picked up Claire to take her to that summer camp and had Ella Mae with him. She’s great with kids, which was important to Michael, who put his children first. As good as it was going, he told his brother Ryan that it all came down to something important:

“Is she r ight for my kids?” he to ld Ryan.Michael and Claire’s first date was about two weeks after her

return to Lousiana. They went to a Japanese restaurant, and he told the staff it was her birthday, which it wasn’t. He made her laugh, and she made him think:

“This could work”It did. He brought her in slowly

with his kids, first tell ing them she was just a friend. But she loved them, and they took to her.

Michael was respectful to her parents, and Curt had a couple of serious talks with him to be sure to take it slow, which he did.

And slowly Michael and Claire realized that the things that seemed like baggage, their divorces, the shared custody of his children, were blessings. By that time, they were adults with experiences that let them get to this point. Claire had always wanted a family, and here was this man who already had one. She saw the positive.

I get to see what he’s l ike as a father, because he’s going it right in front of me, she thought.

He backed up what he said, and Claire became attracted to him on another level.

They respected each other, and they also had fun. Michael taught Claire how to hunt with a bow and arrow, which became one of her favorite hobbies. He can lighten the

Claire had always wanted a family ...

T

“

mood with his wit; she can calm him down with her words. They can watch a movie with popcorn and Milk Duds and sit in bliss.

In March of 2010, Michael decided to make it official and went out to buy an antique wedding ring. One day, he told Claire to come over to watch a movie.

“I’m really, really tired, Michael”

“Just come over.”He convinced her, and when she got there, she noticed he was

a l ittle different and stuffed his face with popcorn.“Here, have some Milk Duds,” he told her.“I don’t want any.”“Have some!”“I don’t want any!”“Please!”“Oh, my gosh, Michael. I will eat the Milk Duds.”She ate a couple.“Michael, there is something in this Milk Dud box.”She looked at him. He got down on one knee. She couldn’t

see the ring because she couldn’t stop crying. o

“You’re not going to believe what I did.”It was 6 o’clock in the morning of Michael and Claire’s wedding

day, June 18, 2010. Until he met Claire, Michael was usually clean-shaven. But Claire liked his facial hair and when he grew a goatee, so he grew it for her. The morning of their wedding, he had to work — he was a health insurance salesman — and intended to do nothing more than just clean up his goatee.

But he forgot to put on the plastic on his electric clipper and accidentally shaved off a piece. He immediately called Claire, who reassured him.

“Michael, I’m not marrying you because of your facial hair.”It was a simple, small wedding, just like they wanted. They decided

to get married soon after he proposed because Claire’s grandmother Myrna Mims Sanford was suffering from cancer and they wanted to

ensure she was there for the big day. Surrounded by cotton and corn

fields, an old cotton gin housed the 50 wedding guests. It was a country wedding, with camouflage — his favorite color scheme — and pink — her favorite color — everywhere. Michael’s son was his Best Man and his daughter was Claire’s Maid of Honor.

Baby-faced and sweaty during a scorching hot day that required them to rent extra fans, Michael said, “I do.” After walking down the aisle to a song by Lady Antebellum and wearing a wedding dress she found online, Claire said, “I do.”

Raised in the Baptist church, Michael and Claire had similar values and priorities: God first, each other second, and family next.

Claire runs an errand or picks up the kids or helps out, and Michael says thank you, says he appreciates her for being so good to his children, says, “I love you.” She never got tired of hearing it and never failed to say it back.

It was a country wedding ...

T

“

They feel blessed, for many reasons. When Claire was a newborn, a nurse recognized something irregular,

called for the doctor in the middle of the night, and Claire was diagnosed with Group B Strep, a sever bacterial infection. She was in the hospital for a couple of months, but had a healthy childhood. Her family calls her the “miracle baby.”

As an adult, Claire was diagnosed with endometriosis, which caused inflammation in her uterus and required three surgeries. Her doctor said the odds of Claire being able to have a child were against her favor. Claire and Michael decided to try, anyway.

On a road trip with her mother, Claire felt sick to her stomach and thought she might even have an ulcer. She took a pregnancy test and it showed a positive result, that she was pregnant. She took another. And another. All positive.

Michael and Claire are expecting a girl. On that special occasion, Michael and Claire will receive their biggest blessing yet.

A miracle baby, like Claire. And, again, Michael will fall in love — twice. o

T hey feel blessed, for many reasons.

T

“

© 2012 Our Once Upon A Time | ouronceuponatime.com

Michael Claire&