February Spotlight
A Collection of Lake Caroline Love Stories
Engagement in September 2021 in Carlsbad, California
Love is in the air in February! Thank you to each and every couple who shared their stories of meeting their spouses, their engagement stories, and where they are now! We also ran a Date Night contest recently in conjunction with our special Valentine’s feature. The winner of the Date Night dinner to The Mermaid is __________! Congratulations and we hope you have a wonderful night out together!
Angela and Eddie Francis met in the 8th grade where Eddie's father was the headmaster at their school in the Delta, although they did not start dating until their freshman year of college; Angela and Eddie have lived on Northshore Place for 14 years and have been married for 21 years. They have two daughters, Emily (17) and Maggie (13).
Lauren and Dallas Waggener have known each other since high school! Years after high school, they reconnected and had their first date at The Mermaid! The couple dated for five months and married on October 21, 2023. Dallas told Stroll Lake Caroline, "We couldn’t be happier together and we look forward to all the challenges that married life will inevitably bring, knowing that the Lord will bring us through them and continue to provide for and bless our lives!" They are at home together now on Hampton Chase. Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Hannah and Mark Pittman of Northshore Place met "in the holiest of places - Davis Wade Stadium." We were each with our friend groups during the game and ended up sitting near each other and meeting. Later that weekend, we ran into each other, exchanged numbers and have been together ever since! We got engaged at North Farm in Starkville - a place where we would often spend time. We got married on June 1, 2019, at The Gin at Nesbit. The Pittmans have one son, Ford, who is two years old.
Camden Trail residents, Keila and Drew Duncan, met through work while Keila still lived in Mexico. Drew works for Nissan and Keila's company won a contract at the Canton Nissan plant during Covid, keeping Keila in the US for almost a year! Drew told us, "After we connected, I learned she had been an exchange student outside Tupelo, Mississippi, in the 9th grade. We got engaged on the banks of the Mississippi River in Vicksburg. We married in our back yard the day before Thanksgiving in 2022 and went to the Egg Bowl the next day! We later had a huge Mexican wedding at the Hard Rock in Playa del Carmen in March of 2023 and celebrated our honeymoon at the Hard Rock in Punta Cana Dominican Republic." The Duncans have two children, Dylan (12) and Della (10).
Laken and Ricky Winters of Camden Lake Drive met at Delta State University where Ricky was playing baseball and rooming with one of Laken's friend’s boyfriends. They started hanging out as friends, and two years later, Ricky organized a scavenger hunt for Laken's whole family while celebrating Thanksgiving on the beach. Laken told us, "My prize was a treasure chest with a note that said 'turn around,' and when I turned around, he was on one knee with a ring! Eight years later, we have two beautiful children, Dean (3) and Georgia Faye (10 months)."
Sandy and Victor Puckett
Sandy and Vic Puckett of Northshore Drive met on what was supposed to be a blind date, but Sandy told us she had to know ahead of time! It turned out that they already knew who each other were! They dated for six months before getting engaged. The Pucketts have been married for 31 years this April and have two grown children, Haley Holton (27) and Branson (24). They became proud grandparents to Willow Rae on December 20, 2023! Congratulations to you all!
Wojciech Kolodziejczyk and Karina Kapusta were living lives immersed in academia at Jackson State University and earning a PhD, respectively. One weekend, Wojciech whimsically decided to visit the beach and invited his lab colleagues to join. "The plan was for five of us to enjoy the day together, but as fate would have it, only three showed up: Myself, a good friend, and Karina - the woman who would become my future wife! Little did we know, this decision would change the course of our lives. Although it wasn't love at first sight, a shared passion for travel sparked a friendship. We became traveling companions, exploring cities like Chicago, Fargo, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale together, and soon we were inseparable, continuing our adventures. Together, we have traversed most of the United States!
In June 2017, amidst the backdrop of our travels and the memories we had created, I proposed. A year later, we were married!" Wojciech and Karina are at home on Prescott Ridge and have been married for five years.
Anna and Garrison Laster
Anna and Garrison Laster met at Mississippi State University and dated for a few years before getting engaged in 2022. The couple got engaged at the Yacht Club and were married in October of 2022 in Destin, Florida. Anna and Garrison moved to Herons Bay Circle in Lake Caroline in November 2022.
Devan and Alex Bucklew
Devan and Alex met in 2017 while both were attending Delta State University. They had mutual friends, but didn’t start dating until 2019. Alex proposed in January of 2021 at Sky Lake in Belzoni on the boardwalk among the cypress trees. This was a special location because it was the very first place the couple went together just as friends in 2017. Devan and Alex got married on June 5, 2021 and moved to their Seville Way home with their two golden retrievers, Maverick and Molly.
Jessica and Connor Gray
Jessica and Connor Gray met in Ocean Springs, Mississippi during Covid while Connor was on vacation visiting his father who worked at Kessler Air Force Base. After they met, Connor decided to extend that vacation to Mississippi for a few more years! Their first date was strolling along Front Beach in Ocean Springs, and they were engaged on a family cruise during Spring Break in March of 2022. Jessica and Connor were married in June 2023 and are expecting their first baby, a boy named Briggs, in April 2024!
Allison and Zach Katcher
Allison and Zach met in Etna, California, where Allison worked each summer with JH Ranch, a nonprofit ministry out of Northern California. Zach served as volunteer staff during the summer of 2021 and met Allison. Allison said, "We knew early on that the Lord was orchestrating our story." They got engaged in three months, had a six-month engagement and were married in Del Mar, California on April 2, 2022. "A few months after we got married, Zach’s job brought us to Mississippi and to Lake Caroline. We welcomed our son, Ezra in July 2023."
Kelly and Jason Miller
Gartin Lane residents, Kelly and Jason Miller, met online on Match.com. Allison told us, "Our engagement happened on Christmas Day 2011, and I asked Jason to marry ME! Our family loves the pickle tradition on Christmas morning, and the person who finds the Christmas pickle gets an extra prize. I made sure Jason got the pickle because the prize was me getting down on one knee and asking him to marry me! He said yes of course!" The couple married in May of 2012 at the Royal Sonesta in New Orleans with a full gospel choir and preacher singing “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince. They followed the ceremony with a Second Line band and a funk band!
Susan and Eric Cleland
Susan and Eric of Covey Run met on a blind date through a mutual friend. Susan was a hairdresser and a single mom at the time. Their mutual friend told Eric about Susan, so Eric scheduled a haircut unbeknownst to Susan to "check her out before he asked her out." The two began dating and although Susan was tentative to commit to marriage (again) at first, Eric was willing to wait until she was ready. He surprised her by proposing just as she was stepping out of the elevator at UMMC to visit her mom after surgery. Together they chose an engagement ring with four small diamonds, each representing his commitment to both Susan and each of her children. Susan and Eric have been married now for 20 years and have endured great loss, including their son, Michael. After Michael's death, the couple made a promise "to stand together no matter what." They are enjoying their two grandsons and hope to retire in the coming years to travel and see the world.