Benjamin and Stephanie Godby
Ben and Steph met in, of all places, boot camp...
Ben was a section leader, a recruit chosen to sort of help a group of other recruits be ready for inspections. This also meant that he had a place in the front of ranks whenever the division went anywhere. Stephanie was the division yeoman, or secretary, and kept track of all of the training files and had to process walking passes. When the division went anywhere, she was normally outside of the ranks because she had to run ahead of the division to sign them into the next training event or appointment. In the galley line, when the division would go to eat, Ben was in the front of the line shouting to Stephanie outside of the line, "Hey Yeoman! What's the soup of the day?" He always had this huge ear-to-ear grin on his face, and Stephanie thought he was nuts. Mind you, boot camp was not a place where you got much rest and you are constantly running, literally and figuratively.
There was no communication between individuals in boot camp most of the time, and Ben and Steph never really talked at all outside of the normal boot camp things. When the division graduated, most people went into A-school. It just happened to turn out that Ben and Steph both ended up at NTTC Corry Station in Pensacola, Florida for their training. Ben arrived and checked in several hours ahead of Stephanie. When Stephanie arrived, they were both glad to see a familiar face. Shortly after check-in, the two had realized that not only were they the two oldest people in their group, but that they had a lot in common. Nearly instantly, the two were inseperable and had become fast friends. Other people would joke that there was more going on than admitted to, but for a long time, it was only friendship. Of course, what other people saw was really what neither Ben or Steph would admit to or act on.... At the time.
Within about a month, after a lot of ribbing from other friends, a lot of strong signals and awkwardly avoided kisses, a friendly wager was made between Ben and Steph over a pool game. The bet was made that whoever lost would have to finally do what they'd been dodging. Needless to say, though it was close through the game, Ben was "the hustler" and cleaned up the table beating Steph. Not wanting to admit defeat, another game was played, with the "stakes" raised to double or nothing. Do we really need to go much further? Ok, well, Ben won again and for a week, Steph was still too nervous to "pay up" with her kiss and take things to the next level. Prior to this bet, both thought that the other had someone back home...
A week later also happened to be Ben's birthday that year (2000.) He had duty that day, but over the weekend, a group of friends went out to celebrate. One of the friends in the group decided he had a thing for Stephanie, even though her attention was focused on Ben the entire time. He, the other friend, made advances and tried his best to flirt with Steph in front of Ben, which though nothing was verbally voiced as of yet, irritated Ben to no end. Though a great time was had by all, the night ended with Ben walking on Pensacola Beach and Stephanie telling the other guy to leave her alone since she was falling for Ben.
The next day, Ben told Stephanie that he'd reserved the room everyone crashed in the night before for another night. Of course, they went out alone without the rest of the crew. They went back to one of their favorite places, "The Dock," and danced and and chatted the entire night away... Finally, Steph decided to pay up on the week old bet... She took Ben's chin in her hand, leaned forward and gave him the kiss they'd both been waiting for. Ben leaned back and looked at Steph as she said "The bet was double or nothing," and kissed him again. At the end of the night, the two went back to the reserved room where Ben gave Steph a massage he'd been promising for weeks... and, she fell asleep... to wake up to the softest kisses on the side of her face in the morning.
The rest, as they say, is history.... At this point in time, the spark is undeniable and impossible to hide. A week later was Valentine's Day... The night before, Ben and Steph were sharing a Hungry Howies pizza in the courtyard behind the lounge on base. There had been a lot of talk about the home they wanted to have and their lives in the future... Previously, instead of admitting anything, they would talk about the little brick rancher and a bowl of peaches on the kitchen table. Trying to say what he was thinking, Ben was talking about this image and trying to imply whose home it was he was talking about. When he asked Steph what she was thinking, she said, " I think I love you," and they both cried. When she asked him why he was crying, he said, "Because you said it first."
A couple of weeks later, Ben got orders to go to Groton, CT and Steph was still in school. He left Florida in the beginning of March and they decided that they would take things as they went. A month later, they met up in Philadelphia, picked up at the airport by Steph's sister, Paula, who was keeping the entire visit a surprise from Steph's family. The entire weekend was a dream and Ben and Steph knew that what they had would last...
They talked constantly after, and spent an entire summer planning the next time they could see each other... Toward the end of the summer, the talk started to become serious, not only about when they could be together, but about being together in life, forever. Letters, cards and phone calls exchanged were so intense a Harlequin novel could have been written based on them. Eventually, the two decided to not wait anymore and to start planning a wedding. A trip was planned for Steph to visit Ben on Labor Day weekend, when the paperwork was finalized. Upon Steph's return to Florida, an application for a marriage license was filed and a date set. With a month and a half to plan, the details were settled...
Steph's family's situation did not allow for them all to be able to make a trip, so it was decided that the announcement would be made a little late so that nobody would feel bad about not making it. Someone from Steph's family had to be there to give her away, and she is very close with her sister, so as not to have to decide between a very close uncle and her step-father who is her dad in her mind, her sister was chosen as the family rep from Steph's side. Not knowing for sure if that would work out, a very close friend of Steph's, "Al" was asked to be available to step in. (Keep track, this is part of a longer story.) Al, whose full name is Darin Allen but called Al for short due to the Navy practice of always using last names, has been a friend through Sally, a girl that Steph knew in boot camp and became close to in Florida also. When Ben and Steph did tell their families, several people's reactions were to ask if she was pregnant. Even then, they both got a good laugh out of it.
Ben took the responsibility of getting Paula to the ceremony and not only bought her a plane ticket to Florida, but bought his out of her area and drove to Delaware before the trip so they could travel together. To Ben and Steph's pleasant surprise, Ben's parents and brother made it to the wedding also and arrived in Florida the same night.
They were married in a beautiful yet simple ceremony presided over by a notary republic on the beach at Blue Angel Park in Pensacola, Florida on October 21, 2000. The wedding party consisted of Sally Schultz escorted by Darin Allen, Lisa Hernandez escorted by her husband, Santi and Steph was given away by her sister Paula. Many friends helped with pictures and preparations and made the ceremony feel even bigger than it was.
Though a formal reception was not planned, the couple attended dinner with Ben's family and some close friends and later went to the Navy Day Ball held at Corry Station where several friends not only decorated the rental car, but had the DJ play the bride and groom's first dance and coated them in enough rice to make at least 4 dozen rice crispy treats.
Now, just over five years later, the couple resides in Bothell, Washington as happy as can be and looking forward to the day when they start a family of their own.
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