Sydonique McLeod and Courtney Johnson exchanged wedding vows at Castleton Gardens in December 2009.
From friends to soul mates
PORT MARIA, St Mary — Sydonique and Courtney Johnson’s love story started as an innocent gesture to walk her to her mother’s workplace; it later blossomed into a lifetime commitment.
They met through the national student council and youth service in 2004 when both were youth parliamentarians for the parish of St Mary. The then Sydonique McLeod was 15 years old and still attending St Mary High School. Meanwhile 17-year-old Courtney had already graduated from the same school and was working at the St Mary Youth Information Centre in Port Maria.
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“When he was in high school, I would see him around campus with his glasses on and I thought he looked so nerdy,” Sydonique recalled with a giggle.
They never spoke until she went to the youth centre on business. Seeing him again, she still thought he was nerdy but when he offered to walk her back to town she accepted.
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“I had no other intentions as I thought we could develop a platonic relationship since we both were going to represent the parish the following day and I just wanted to get to know the person,” Courtney explained.
Like a puzzle falling into place, the next day while on her way to Ocho Rios to board a bus to Kingston, Sydonique said she saw her future husband on the roadside waiting for transport.
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“I told daddy to stop and take him up,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
That drive into Ocho Rios together was the beginning of a beautiful friendship as both learnt that they had so much in common, including the Christian faith.
Phone numbers were exchanged and their love story began. They would attend each other’s churches and they began to get to know each other better.
“I didn’t have a phone; my parents didn’t allow me to have a cellular, but he would call me once per week on the house phone,” said Sydonique.
They came up with another way to keep in touch. They took turns expressing their feelings in a journal, the “Dainty Bear”.
“If I couldn’t give him personally, I would send it with a friend,” recalled Sydonique.
Courtney eventually started his job as a youth service worker at Belfield Primary School. Every chance they got, the met and talked about every little thing.
“My grandfather lived in Belfield near the school so I would find every excuse to visit my grandfather, knowing I would see him,” Sydonique told the Observer.
Courtney was encouraging and told her to keep focused on her schoolwork. This she did. Their friendship was past the platonic stage, and he was introduced as a “friend” to her parents who saw him as a decent, well-mannered young man.
“My father took out his machete and told him he keeps it very sharp. That is something we laugh about up to today,” Sydonique said with a chuckle.
After graduating high school she went to spend time with an aunt in Portmore. She eventually got a job and also went back to school. Still without a cellular phone Courtney would call her aunt’s number whenever he wished to speak with her.
“When I got accepted to go to Northern Caribbean University (NCU) it was then my mom brought a phone for me,” said Sydonique.
She then spent hours talking with the love of her life.
On her 17th birthday Courtney plotted with her parents to throw a surprise party for Sydonique. Their love grew and at age 18 he informally proposed to her, but she told him they were not ready for such a big step and convinced him of the need to make plans and preparations for their future together.
By then she was completing her studies in teaching, and he was attending NCU, studying communication with a minor in business. They spent every minute of their free time together, encouraging each other in their studies.
“We would sit in each other classes, which shouldn’t be so,” Sydonique reminisced with a laugh.
They planned to get married in 2010 after her husband completed his studies, but fate had something else in store for them and they did it a year earlier.
“I found out that I was pregnant. We were both shocked as we didn’t want to have the child out of wedlock. My mom was overseas so I called my aunt who said we should wait until my mom comes and she started planning the wedding,” said Sydonique.
By then she was 21 and Courtney was 23 years old.
Initially disappointed, their parents eventually threw themselves into planning the wedding for December 2009. Since saying their vows on a rainy day at the beautiful Castleton Gardens, Sydonique and Courtney’s love for each other has grown.
“Communication is the number one thing for us. We are very open to each other and have God first at the centre of our relationship as we try to have family worship every evening,” said Sydonique.
Their union has produced two daughters and a son and they hope to expand their family in the future.
The Johnsons offered a word of encouragement to other couples: Be honest, work together as partners and always make time for each other.
“We don’t go to bed vex with each other, we talk to each other until we fall asleep,” said Sydonique with a serene smile.
