BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times
LASHONDA AND JIMMIE JOHNSON JR.
Live: Bessemer
Married: April 12, 2008
Met: The two attended Pentecostal Lighthouse Church in Huntsville as children, and with Jimmie being five years older “she was literally a child to me back then… I was a teen,” Jimme said. However, in December 2006, Jimmie moved back to Huntsville after living in Birmingham for a few years and returned to Pentecostal Lighthouse Church. Lashonda, then 26, was now all grown up.
“Shonda was quiet,” said Jimmie. “She was the type that as soon as church was over she’d beeline for the door, and I was the opposite. I used to stay and talk and be one of the last ones to leave. But one Wednesday night after Bible study, Shonda asked me what I was doing [the upcoming weekend] and we started talking. She asked me for my number, and I must’ve asked 10 people for a pen,” he laughed. “And [at that moment], I remembered a dream I had had about her a year prior, and I knew [it was coming full circle].
“I had always had a crush on him, but being so much younger I kinda looked at him like a big brother… But I had had my first child [daughter, Azariah, then 1], and I was more mature and no longer saw him as a big brother [but rather] a man I would like to be with,” Lashonda laughed. “I had been watching him for a couple Sundays, and I saw he was raising [his 5-year-old son] as a single father and I could tell he was a good dad. And my daughter gravitated towards him… That night [after Bible study] I decided to make my move to see what happens.”
At that point, both Lashonda and Jimmie had small children. Jimmie had three children: Tayzha, then 8, Deanna, then 7, and DJ, then 5. The two exchanged numbers and set up their first date. Jimmie said he and Lashonda started talking on the phone and he learned that she was very different from other women he had dated.
First date: January 2007, at Ruby Tuesdays in Huntsville. “Being around Lashonda felt like home,” said Jimmie. “I could relax, I could be me, I could rest with her. It felt so natural, our conversations were very organic. I didn’t have to put on pretense or be somebody I wasn’t. It was very refreshing, and she was what I had been needing. And although she came through as just a flash in that dream, I realized that maybe it was more than my mind entertaining itself; maybe it was showing me something.
“So, on that first date, I laid all my cards out,” he said. “I knew she was going to be mine, so I wanted to tell her everything pertinent that I believed she needed to know. I told her my plans for the future, and secrets I had never told anyone else… I didn’t want there to be anything that could come between us because I knew she was going to be my wife.”
Lashonda remembered starting off nervous on the date, but Jimmie’s honesty put her at ease. “For him to express all of that let me know his character and who he was,” Lashonda said. “With us both having children, we had to do it that way. We had to lay it all out, and I appreciated him expressing all the things… …and spiritually speaking, I had had a dream about him too, so him sharing his dream was confirmation.”
Overall, the couple shared their hopes, dreams, reservations and past experiences and knew that they wanted to move forward with building something real.
Lashonda added that she ate whatever she wanted on the menu that night– “It wasn’t no little salad, I ate well,” she laughed. “I may have been nervous, but I wasn’t too nervous to eat!”
The turn: Lashonda and Jimmie said their exclusivity went without saying. “It was understood,” Phil said. “But I may have been the first one to recognize that this was it and we were going to get married. Shonda may have been a little apprehensive at first, but, I was sure.”
“Being a single mother, I had my reservations,” said Lashonda. “I came from a household where it was just me, my mom, and my sister, and I was very independent. …I had to tell Jimmie to give me a little room. He wanted to be on dates three-five times a week, he was smothering me. I loved it, but it was a bit much.”
“I was excited. I had found my lady and I’m the type that when something is good, why wait? Like, why don’t you want to be with me four days a week?” Jimmie laughed. “I just wanted to shower her with all of my attention and drink from the fountain of her love. But I understood. I was breaking into the ladies trio {her, her mom and sister], and over time I realized I could back up a little bit, and that she wasn’t going anywhere.”
The proposal: April 2007, at Big Springs Park in Huntsville. Lashonda remembers that it was early evening when Jimmie picked her up from her mother’s house. Jimmie had an elaborate plan with the help of coworkers.
“We got a bunch of flower pedals and candles, and at the park there’s this big flight of stairs that leads up to a gazebo, so I had candles lining both sides of the stairs. [During setup] It was really windy that day and the candles kept blowing out, and before I left to go pick her up, I prayed at the top of the stairs. I said, ‘Lord, I’m proposing to Lashonda today and I need the wind to stop so these candles can stay lit. And the wind stopped immediately, and when I got back they were still lit,” Jimmie said. “We often took walks in that park and when we got to the stairs and she thought somebody was having a party, she didn’t think it was for her. So I said, ‘let’s go see what’s going on and she said, ‘we can’t mess with these people’s stuff.’
“But I led her to the top of the stairs and started talking,” Jimmie continued. “I gave a brief synopsis of our dating life and told her that when I think about my life and being an old man, she’s there. She’s my person, and I wanted to begin planning the life we had been dreaming and praying about. I got down on one knee and proposed, and she said ‘yes’.”
“I should’ve known something was up because he was acting so weird. Nervousness was out of the norm for him. And when he took me for a walk at that park, which we had done many times before, when he tried to lead me up those steps to mess up those folks stuff, I was hesitant,” Lashonda laughed. “But everything came together so beautifully. It was a surprise, and I was having so many different emotions because it was so surreal. I was like ‘am I really about to get married, is this real? Is he sure?’ I was overwhelmed and overjoyed, but he said he was my person, and I was his, so I said ‘yes’.”
The wedding: Pentecostal Lighthouse Church in Huntsville, officiated by its pastor, Bishop Johnny Burrell. Their colors were sage and orchid [a shade of purple].
Most memorable for the bride was the support they had on their wedding day. “It was such a warm, beautiful spring day, and I looked out the window and noticed a bunch of cars. We had invited people, but I didn’t expect so many people to come and support us on that day. I saw a lot of old faces and new faces, and that did my heart good to know there were so many people that supported our union,” Lashonda said.
Most memorable for the groom was also the support from loved ones. “I was sitting in the room for the groom, and I was looking out of the window and saw all the people and I said to one of my groomsmen, ‘Man, I don’t even know some of these people’. And to me, when people show up to your wedding, that says that they believe in your union and will be there to be an advocate for your marriage. It let me know that all the things Lashonda and I felt about what our marriage would be, other people were agreeing with us and came to support our union,” Jimmie said.
The honeymoon was in Miami, Florida. “My husband got a chance to meet my grandparents and the rest of my side of the family. That was awesome because some of them couldn’t come for the wedding,” Lashonda said.
“We had a good time enjoying each other’s company. And while we were at the beach, a guy came and sat a 75-pound boa constrictor on my shoulders because he wanted us to pay him to take a picture of me with it on my shoulders. I had to save face. I was terrified and had never been so scared in my life,” Jimmie said. “But I didn’t want my wife to think I was a pansy, so I stood strong, but told him, ‘No, go on and come and get it off my shoulders’,” he laughed.
Words of wisdom: “My take on marriage may not be for everybody, but by being a minister and a Christian has let me see the reflection of God in marriage. One relationship speaks to the other. How I love my wife reflects how Christ loved the church… Lean into your relationship with your spouse and grow your relationship with God and learn more about each other. Your spouse is the only relationship the Lord gives you to keep till you die.
And I know it’s cliche, but marriage is work. It takes intention, but it’s the most beautiful thing you’ll ever experience in your natural life if you put that work in. We see each other in our best moments and our worst moments. All life moments are made more beautiful when you have someone to share it with,” Jimmie said.
“Don’t forsake dating each other. Date. Date all the time. Take out the time to continue getting to know each other as you grow and evolve,” Lashonda said. “Pray with your spouse. It keeps you connected and shows your vulnerable side. And, feed off each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I appreciate that we can balance each other out, and we realize that those things make us a great couple.
Happily ever after: The Johnsons attend Kingdom Warriors Ministries in Bessemer where Jimmie serves as an associate minister, and Lashonda in the women’s ministry. They are a blended family with six children: Tayzha, 27, Deanna, 26, DJ, 24, Azariah, 20, and twins Sean and Kensley, 5, and three grandsons.
Lashonda, 45, is an army brat and was born in Germany, but spent her formative years in Huntsville, Ala. She attended Butler High School and Drake State Technical College in Huntsville, where she earned an LPN certification, as well as Calhoun Community College [Huntsville], where she earned an associate’s degree in nursing. Lashonda works as an RN for the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Jimmie, 49, is a West End native, and graduated from J.O. Johnson High School in Huntsville. He attended Alabama A&M University, where he studied communications, works for Amazon Distribution Warehouse in Bessemer, and is a licensed Realtor.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
