Why Mary & Ronda?

We get asked often why we are called "Mary and Ronda" when our "names are beautiful" as Michelle and Monica.

Well, it all started back in August 2022 while we were camping in the Upper Peninsula, we (I mean, Monica, as Michelle would like to point out) got stuck in the sand on a two-track in the middle of nowhere headed to Two-Hearted River. That led to a little adventure where we met these guys who pulled us out with their ATV and mistook our names as "Mary and Ronda" and we didn't correct them because you just don't do that up there.

So we followed our duck-dynasty bearded friends to safety and decided we had to use the alias from then on. Little did we know we'd created something bigger than just a funny story. What started out as “love notes” for Michelle, with an account with different names so we could keep it on the DL, turned out to be one of the best adventures we’ve been on—creating a community that gives us so much purpose.

Sometimes unknown beginnings lead to the most beautiful paths. Michelle was Monica’s 7th grade science teacher in 2004. 16 years passed before Monica reached out to Michelle on Facebook looking for someone to talk to about oppression and feeling so alone since she came out as a lesbian in 2020, she reached out to Michelle who she felt would be a safe friend, without even knowing if she was a lesbian or not because she had to be closeted as a teacher. Their friendship grew and bloomed for the next year, ironically both becoming safe places for each other as they both were navigating dark times. Both Michelle and Monica made the decision to start dating in spring 2022 and left their worlds behind to walk hand-in-hand into this one. They never anticipated being a voice for other age-gap couples, let alone being an important role in the LGBT community.

Monica proposed to Michelle with her kids in September 2022 and Michelle proposed to Monica in October 2022 and they eloped in Suttons Bay, Michigan on a private beach on June 17, 2023.