How many can say that they married their high school sweethearts? Well, meet the Johnsons!
Once upon a time, Jovan Johnson met Sandrea Clarke while attending Edwin Allen High School in Frankfield, Clarendon. Jovan was in lower sixth form at the time, while Sandrea was in fifth form. After hearing her angelic voice at devotion, he knew he needed to get to know her more. “Also, I saw that she had, and still has, the most stunning smile; so warm, pure, and just beautiful,” Jovan told Island Wedding.
The young knight didn’t hesitate in making his attraction known to the songbird, flirting with the object of his affection for a few months. If he wasn’t being gallant enough in getting her attention, he stepped up during a lunch break around April 2008, inviting her to the library for a ‘meeting’. That’s when he poured his soul out to her.
In her world, Sandrea was surprised that he took an interest. The respected student leader occasionally taught her history when her teacher was absent. Little did she know that they would be creating a loving history together, all the way to holy matrimony.
But she wasn’t blind to his flattery. She did notice his stares and the fact that he would pick on her during classes. “The stares would continue whenever he spotted me on the school compound. This was followed by numerous handwritten love poems and a meeting in the library where he further expressed his love,” she added.
Following that profession, the enchanter did his best to persistently woo her. “He had asked me for my number one day after class and I had given it to him. We communicated with each other every day after that and he would ask me to give him a chance. I eventually decided to enter the relationship because he proved himself to be quite a charmer,” she revealed.
Around that time, according to Jovan, they began bonding on a level that for their age and experiences was quite remarkable. “We wanted to nurture this and see where it would take us.”
The two entered a starry-eyed connection in November of 2008 and continued to make significant strides, thriving in life and in love. “My confidence, self-belief, and self-worth have grown over the years because Sandrea has been a vital source of strength and empowerment. She’s a strong, God-fearing woman and her light works magic! It’s the same energy that’s channelled in our relationship. She’s a force,” he confessed. And Sandrea loves the fact that they share similar values, goals, and dreams for their families.
They would court their way through college and embark on their careers together. “We both studied at CARIMAC at UWI, Mona. We both work in media. We both received international scholarships (Chevening and Commonwealth) to study in the United Kingdom. Jovan proposed to Sandrea nine years later.
On October 2017, he took his better half to a Greek restaurant in London to celebrate the completion of her master’s at the University of Manchester. “My Commonwealth Scholar star graduated with distinction,” he boasted. He had just received a Chevening Scholarship to pursue a masters at The London School of Economics.
Following the dinner, the lovers took a romantic stroll on the South Bank and that’s when part two of the evening began to unfold. “I had previously arranged with a street performer – a magician to be exact – who would invite Sandrea to join him during one of his routines at which time I would pop the question. One of my dear friends, Stephanie Bailey-Palmer, who lives in the UK was critical in coordinating with the performer, arranging the music, the timing, everything.
Sandrea, caught up in the moment of the merriment, observing everyone enjoying themselves, was a good sport when the magician called her out to participate in one of his tricks. “I was handpicked by the magician to be a volunteer for one of his magic acts where I had to be blindfolded. Shortly after being blindfolded, I heard one of our favourite love songs being played followed by Jovan expressing his love to me on the microphone. When the blindfold was finally lifted, Jovan was on his knees and the crowd of spectators were clapping and laughing with jubilation,” she revealed. With tears in her eyes, she said yes.
The couple planned their own wedding without a hitch, with the assistance of supportive family members and friends.
And on November 23 of this year, before God in the presence of loved ones, the two became one in a breathtaking ceremony at The University of the West Indies Chapel. The reception, held at the Roof Terrace, Altamont Court Hotel in New Kingston, was hosted by Master of Ceremonies Fae Ellington.
The blushing bride reminisced, “The wedding was simply amazing, everything and everyone looked beautiful. We had perfect weather, a very supportive and fun-loving bridal party by our side, and all our friends and loved ones present to support us on our big day. It was all I hoped for and more.” While the dashing groom elaborated on the highlights of his nuptials, “The best moment for me was when she entered the Chapel singing – there, the voice that captured my heart over a decade ago was singing to me moments before accepting me as her life partner. It was like coming full circle. It was beautiful.”
Story by Krysta Anderson.
krysta.anderson@gleanerjm.com
