Brielle Meyer

While their marriage has lasted a long time, it didn’t take long for the couple to make up their minds about saying “I do.”

^{Photo credit: WZZM 13}

Note: This is a story I wrote for WZZM 13 in February of 2025. The original can be found here.

ZEELAND, Mich. — Kevin and Katie Towne bonded over sharing a birthday when they were both attending Zeeland High School. 

“He came up to me and said ‘Hey, I hear we have the same birthday,’” Katie said.

From there, the pair said they were inseparable.

22 years of marriage later they share not just their birthday, but every day.

While their marriage has lasted a long time, it didn’t take long for the couple to make up their minds about saying “I do.”

“We kind of threw it all together in like 24 hours,” Katie said.

Just three years after graduating, Kevin was deployed, serving in the Marine Corps.

“His mom had called us when we were on the way to pick up his orders and said, ‘Did you guys ever think of getting married before you leave?’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, we could,’” Katie said.

The couple decided to have a small courthouse wedding until their story became front-page news.

“We got our picture in the front page of the Holland Sentinel,” Katie said.

Then came the calls from other news outlets. That’s when the couple knew their wedding could be no small affair, and they got to work.

They bought a dress, invited their loved ones and ordered some food. And just like that, they had planned a wedding in 24 hours.

While many couples plan for cameras at their wedding in the form of a hired photographer and their family’s cell phones, Kevin and Katie had cameras of a different sort.

“It was unique,” Kevin said. “It was all the news outlets.”

After saying their vows, Kevin was deployed for nine months in Africa. National news outlets were reaching out to the couple to try to get interviews.

They had to turn down an interview with Lester Holt from MSNBC since after the wedding, Kevin had to report in to deploy at midnight.

While he was away, they planned a bigger celebration for after his return.

“When I came back home, we had more of a reception, because we weren’t able to do that,” Kevin said.

However, Kevin almost didn’t make it to the reception. The couple explained that a friend of his gave up his spot on an earlier flight so that Kevin could make it home in time.

Back home, Kevin got himself a job at the place where it all began.

“They had an opening here, and super blessed to be teaching in this school district,” Kevin said.

Kevin works as a teacher for Zeeland Public Schools. The same place he met Katie, his forever valentine.

“I married my best friend,” Kevin said.

The couple said their Valentine’s Days look a little different now.

“‘We’re gonna go out to dinner tonight,’ and you know, and then you have kids,” Kevin said. “Usually our Valentine’s Day is, we’re in a gym somewhere chasing our kids around and things like that, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“It was worth it, it was all worth, you know, the sadness and the tears and the hard things we went through,” Katie agreed. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”