Chad O’ Conner & Maci Stephens
Our Story
In telling our story, its hard for me to know where to start. I could attempt to sum it up by saying we were high school sweethearts, but to us, its much more than that.
Chad and I met as fourteen year old kids at a girl’s house that I went to high school with. A bunch of people were over and everyone decided we should watch the movie The People Under the Stairs. Well, I hate scary movies and hate is putting it lightly. As it turns out, so did Chad. Somehow we ended up sitting next to each other, making jokes aloud to make light of the movie, and driving everyone crazy with our silly banter. That year in high school, our groups of friends ran together, with the exception of the Friday night in the fall that Farragut and Bearden played. Chad went to Bearden and I went to Farragut, and everyone in Knoxville knows Admirals and Bulldogs have quite the rivalry (which we still tenaciously uphold).
We became really close friends and started dating the summer of our sophomore year in high school. There are so many memories we have together through all the high school dances, camping trips, birthdays, spring breaks, ballgames, family trips, and holidays. One of our favorite things to do with our group of friends was going up to Treemont to picnic, hike, or float the river. We had “our spot” that we would all meet at and spend the day together in the mountains.
Chad and I were both raised die-hard Tennessee fans, so after high school it seemed only natural for both of us to attend the University of Tennessee. College was an incredible experience. Aside from school, we enjoyed numerous formals and events in our Greek lives of Alpha Omicron Pi and Sigma Chi, supported the Vols as I danced on the University of Tennessee Dance Team, and additionally made the most incredible life long friends along the way. The next little bit was rather trying as both of us had some growing up to do and we spent some time apart venturing to figure out what life held for both of us.
After college, Chad earned a position working in accounting for Clayton Homes in Maryville and I was accepted into Physician Assistant School at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. So off I went to Nashville, praying that God would make his plan for my life known to me. Some time went by and while my concentration was solely on my studies, I clung to my faith knowing everything happens for a reason and it would all work out exactly how it was supposed to. From time to time, I would find myself wondering what Chad had going on. I had been a part of his life for so long, it seemed odd not to know, yet I was reluctant to call him. One day, out of the blue, my phone rang, and my heart stopped when I saw the caller ID. Chad said he had me on his mind and wanted to see how I was doing with school and everything. We spent the next hour or so catching up and from then on we talked everyday and then found ourselves wearing a path on I-40 on the weekends.
In August, I returned to Knoxville. I was exhausted from finals, but because it was my birthday, and Chad thought I would love to go shopping at the outlets in Pigeon Forge, I didn’t argue. We had been shopping for a while when I told him we should have gone and spent the day at Cades Cove. He acted like that was such a great idea and we headed that way. We got stuck in all kinds of traffic with people pulled over taking pictures of bear cubs on our way up the mountain, so I told Chad we should just go back to “our old spot” from high school in Treemont. Little did I know, I was spoon feeding him his exact plan. We pulled up, parked, and got out to walk along the river. We were walking when he grabbed my hand, pulled me to face him, and reached into his pocket. I have to honestly say the rest is a bit foggy, but he got down on his knee
and asked, “Will you marry me?” holding the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. He still talks about me saying yes and just looking at him. I couldn’t even cry, I was so blown away–I had no idea. He picked me up with a huge hug and kiss. I asked him if anyone knew and he turned around and pointed up to the bridge over the river, where my sister, Hana, and his sister, Rachel, stood with cameras capturing the whole thing. Then the emotions caught up with me and I burst into tears. It was more than I could have ever imagined. Simply perfect.
Being the Tennessee fanatics that we are, naturally we had to plan everything around the 2011 Tennessee football schedule, even if it meant redoing all the plans when Tennessee decided to play Buffalo on our first date! With all that said, Chad and I will be tying the knot on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at Castleton Farms in Loudon, TN!
Maci Stephens
