APR 2021: CANDICE GRANT

The story of our union of 26 years and counting began with a mutual best friend, a heated debate, and supreme divine timing.

Keith and I knew almost everything about each other before we even met! My best friend from high school, Holmes Smith, became Keith's college roommate at South Carolina State University. Holmes would always share stories about me with Keith, he talked a lot about Keith with me when he would come home to visit me in Columbia where I attended the University of South Carolina.

There were even times during our college years that Holmes tried to arrange for me and Keith to meet, but something would come up every single time, usually at the very last minute. (Keith says that these delays were divine, because during those times, he was involved with someone else, so the timing would have been off.) So for years, Keith and I knew each other through Holmes' colorful stories and our occasional hellos when I would call their house in Orangeburg to speak to Holmes.

Things shifted during one of these calls, however, when a conversation that I was having with another friend turned into a heated debate. Keith hopped on the phone to quell the argument. Not only did he manage to bring me calm, we wound up having an incredibly stimulating conversation that lasted until the sun came up the next morning and left us both ready for more.

A week or so later, I wound up going to visit Holmes in Orangeburg. While we had been planning this trip for a while, it felt different after my continued conversations with Keith! This was no longer just a visit to see my brother, so I ditched my sweats and sneakers and planned a shopping trip with a girlfriend to be sure that I looked my best.

I still remember pulling up and seeing him standing outside next to his car dressed in black. Whew! Our attraction was magnetic, almost tangible. We smiled at each other, and the connection was cemented. We've been together ever since that weekend.

​I'm happy to share that this same spark still lives today. We are the proud parents of three young adult children: our two sons Kam, 25; Korey, 23; and our daughter Karisi,19. ​​

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