My wife and I have known each other for a long time and people like to hear our story because it is rare you see professional athletes meet their  spouses the way we did. When I was 13 years old and in seventh grade, I went to a new school, Detroit Country Day School, in Birmingham, MI, just outside of Detroit. At the time I was 1.93 meters tall! I had a really bad haircut, big feet, and I was very skinny. I was a good basketball player and a very good student. While I was popular, I never had a girlfriend. I think they were a little intimidated by me (even though I was a nice guy!).

 

Anyways, on my first day of school, I walked into Mr. Thompson's math class and saw the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life. Believe it or not, I knew that was the one person I was going to marry one day. I knew it when I was 13 years old. That girl's name was Heidi.

 

Well, Heidi didn't know it at the time, but I was going to marry her, I just needed to convince her first! We became best friends that year and talked to each other everyday. She was a great athlete too, playing soccer and field hockey, as well as a great student.

 

It wasn't until high school that we decided that we wanted to date each other. Heidi was my first girlfriend and the first girl I ever kissed. I had finally decided to cut my bad haircut and I finally began to grow into my body, so I wasn't as awkward and gangly! We dated for a year and a half in high school.

 

We were still best friends, although we did not date, the last years of high school. I chose to go to Duke University in North Carolina and she went to Villanova University in Philadelphia, which were about 6 hours from each other by car.

 

We visited each other often our first year of college and by the end of the year, we both realized we were in love again. We dated the rest of our college years and our love grew.

 

We finally married July 12, 2003 after knowing each other for 12 years.

 

It is rare that you find your best friend so early in life and realize that person is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with, but we did. Heidi is my best friend and there hasn't been a day that has passed in the last 15 years that I haven't thought of her. I am truly lucky!

 

翻译：

 

我和我老婆的认识了很长时间，人们都想听我们之间的爱情故事，因为你绝少听说职业球员是这么认识他们的心上人的。那是我13岁正在读7年级那年，我转到了一个新学校，位于密歇根州伯明翰的底特律乡村日中学，就在底特律城外。当时我身高已经达到1.93米！我当时发型真的很难看，而且还有一双大脚，瘦得可怕。在学校我是一名优秀的篮球运动员和好学生。尽管我人气很旺，但却没有交到一个女朋友。可能是因为她们在我面前都有点自卑吧(尽管我是一个不错的家伙！)。

 

在我上学的第一天，我走进了数学老师汤普森先生的课堂，看见了一个姑娘，她是我一生中见过的最漂亮的姑娘。不管你信不信，我当时就认为有朝一日她将是我的新娘。在我13岁的时候我就明白了这一点。那个姑娘的名字叫海蒂。

 

不过海蒂当时并不知道我决定娶她，我首先得让她相信这一点！那年我们成为了最好得朋友，我们每天都在一起交谈。她也是一名优秀的运动员，擅长踢足球和打曲棍球，同时也是一名优秀的学生。

 

直到上了高中，我们才决定开始约会。海蒂是我的初恋，也是我第一个亲吻的姑娘。后来我终于决定改变难看的发型，我的身体也终于长开了，我终于看上去不那么瘦削和笨拙了！我们在高中时约会了一年半。

 

在高中的最后一年，尽管我们没有约会，但我们依然是最好的朋友。我选择了北卡罗莱那的杜克大学，她去费城的维拉诺娃大学念书，从我这到她那开车只需要6个小时。

 

大学一年级，我们频繁地约会，在那一年快要结束的时候，我们意识到彼此相爱了。我们在大学余下的时间里继续约会，我们的爱情在升温。

 

2003年7月12日，在相识了12年以后，我们终于结婚了。

 

很少有人能够在那么小的年纪就认识了一生中最好的朋友，并且意识到那个人就是将陪你度过余生的人。海蒂是我最好的朋友，在过去的16年里，我没有一天不想她。我真的是太幸运了！