Hodges Family Blog: My Daddy

How it all began

Ralph and I have been together since the summer of 2008 but it all began in 1992. Ralph's sister, Colleen and I have been best friends since 6th grade and we grew up at each other's houses throughout the years. Ralph was always around but being the younger brother was forbidden to be around us (not that he wanted to make up dances with us). We said hi during high school and when I needed a jersey to wear to school on Fridays, Ralph was nice enough to let me wear his. He visited Kent State while I was there once to look at the football team and campus but decided against attending. He joined the Marine Corps and we spoke through emails every now and then just to see how the other was doing. Life went on and our paths finally crossed again in 2008 when Colleen invited me to their families yearly 4th of July party. Ralph was home on leave from Iraq and I just moved back to Cincinnati. This time when we saw each other things seemed a little different and the rest is history. In December 2011 we were engaged, July 2012 we were married, April 2013 we bought our first house and March 2014 we had our first child, Braxten! Each year has been more blessed than the last and we are so excited to see where our future takes us!