Brooke (Booth) and Kurt Schultheis

Kurt and I met in the fall of 1999 at his fraternity’s formal. I had just recently broken up with my boyfriend, so I was a little down when my friend Fraser asked me to attend the Fall Formal of the fraternity he was rushing. I was a little reluctant but thought I needed some fun. I borrowed my friend’s prom dress since I didn’t have anything formal to wear. Fraser picked me up and we stopped by the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house (located off campus) before heading to the formal so we could take some photos and meet everyone. It was such a blur for me as I didn’t know anyone. Once we were in the ballroom of the hotel I sat with some of Fraser’s friends and looked across the dance floor. That is when I noticed Kurt the first time. He was standing and laughing with some of the guys. I thought he was cute and had this great smile, but went back to my group. Fraser took me home and that was that. Or so I thought. Several months later I attended a party that someone in the fraternity was having. I was the DD and I was sitting on this old sofa, watching my friends across the room and Kurt sat down next to me and said a great joke that I cannot repeat. He made me laugh so hard. I liked him right away. We talked for a while and it was amazing how much we had in common. We were both born outside of Pittsburgh. We both moved to South Florida around the same time. We went to rival high schools. We even had the same dentist growing up. It was amazing! We were so different but so similar. Our first date, we went to the movies and saw “The Perfect Storm”. That was all. No dinner. Just a movie. He drove me back to my apartment. We were both so nervous! But after he drove away I remember thinking, “This could be it”. And it was. We moved in together a year later. Kurt graduated from UCF in 2001 and took a job at the Bradenton Herald in 2002. I moved in with a friend until I graduated in 2003 and also moved to Bradenton. We got engaged at the Gaylord Palms on New Years in 2005. He was so cute about it. We went to see ICE and then after we got our hot chocolate sat on a bench in the Fort area. He put the ring in this little niche. I was so excited! We got married at the Bellagio in Vegas in 2007. Liam was born in 2009. Kyle in 2012. In 2016 we moved to Ocala to be closer to family. Its been 20 years since we started dating and we are still so in love. He is my best friend. And he still makes me laugh.