“It just became something I could never let go of,” he said.

Cincinati and Price grew up near Madison, in rural West Virginia, attending different high schools. A mutual friend introduced them in September of their junior year, and their connection was immediate, they said.

“He was my first love, and I was his,” Price said. “We were really goofy together all the time … We had a really sweet relationship.”

They dated for two years, attending their junior and senior proms together.

Then, shortly after they graduated from high school, Cincinati went to a college party and lied to Price about it. They broke up. He called it a “stupid mistake” on his part.

“I was devastated and heartbroken over it,” said Price, now 47.

They continued to cross paths but remained broken up. In the summer of 1996, Cincinati enlisted in the military. The night before he left, he asked to see Price. He had a pear-shaped solitaire diamond in his pocket.

“I still loved her. I still wanted to be with her,” said Cincinati, now 49. “I had the ring for a while.”

Price could tell he was about to propose. Before he could ask the question, she told him not to. She was too young, she said, and still had trust issues from the year before. He urged her to keep the ring anyway, and she did.

“I cried the whole way home,” Price said.

She wore the ring for a while. Cincinati wrote her a letter from boot camp, but she didn’t respond. A few months later, his sister showed up at the gas station where Price worked and asked for the ring back.

“Neither one of us ever stopped loving each other,” Price said. “We both just had some growing up to do.”

A few years later, when he was home while on leave, Cincinati called Price. They met for dinner and their bond felt as strong as they’d both remembered.

“It was always easy for us,” Price said.

He promised to call her after, and he did. But Price believes her ex-boyfriend deleted a voicemail Cincinati left and sent Cincinati a text from her phone telling him to leave her alone.

“After that, I never got another phone call from him,” said Price. “In my mind, I’m like, ‘Oh great, he hurt my heart again.’”

On his end, Cincinati assumed he had lost her for good. He was distraught, he said.

They both moved through life and married other people. Cincinati has four sons – ages 26, 15, 14, 10 – and Price has three children – ages 17, 15 and 14. He was married for 18 years, and she for 15. Both marriages eventually ended. After leaving the military, Cincinati settled in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Price was living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

In December 2024, Cincinati created a Facebook account, and friend suggestions began to appear. He hesitated for a moment when he saw Price’s profile, then added her.

“I was cleaning the house and my phone vibrated and I looked and it was a message from her,” Cincinati said. “I almost dropped my phone; my legs went weak.”

Price, who had been divorced for three years, took a few days before responding to his friend request.

“I had just been through a lot myself, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready,” she said. “But it was driving me crazy because I wanted to see how he was doing.”

She wrote him: “Well, well, Michael Cincinati – where have you been?”

For the next two months, they messaged each other all day, every day.

“It was literally nonstop,” Price said. “There was just so much to connect on and catch up on … It was like time had never slipped between us. It was that comfort level that was always there.”

They soon decided it was time to reunite in person. Cincinati drove about 11 hours to Myrtle Beach for Valentine’s Day in February 2025.

“We were super nervous,” Price said. “It’s just weird because in your mind, you still have this 18-year-old guy, and here we are both pushing 50. He looked just the same and we hugged.”

“It was magical,” Cincinati said.

From there, they started a long-distance relationship and would talk for hours on the phone each day. They would drive to meet halfway, often in Florida, every three to four weeks. That spring, their children met for the first time during spring break. Everyone got along.

“I have two special-needs adopted kids, so that’s a big load to walk into, and for his kids to just be super comfortable right away and Michael to embrace it meant so much to me,” Price said. “I’m never going to be an empty nester, and for him to be able to walk in and accept that is huge for me.”

Cincinati moved from Gulfport to Myrtle Beach in April of this year. In early June, the two drove to Gulfport to drop off one of Cincinati’s sons with his mother, then turned around and headed back.

On the way, they stopped in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. While out on a walk, they passed by a small chapel in a beach town. Cincinati thought it was the perfect place to propose.

“Amanda loves the beach. That is her happy place,” Cincinati said.

They decided to elope on the same trip. Their wedding was first reported by People magazine.

“We were just ready to do it, and didn’t want to do the big wedding thing,” Price said. “We wanted it to be something super small and intimate.”

Two days later, on June 5, they married at the Castillo de San Marcos – the oldest masonry fort in the continental US – in St Augustine, Florida, a place that became sentimental to them during their long-distance year, as it was one of their regular spots to meet halfway.

Price’s father, a pastor, flew in from West Virginia to officiate. Her mother was the maid of honour.

“It made it extra special having the two of them there,” Price said.

The Cincinatis said their children were thrilled to hear that they eloped.

“The kids were all very excited,” Amanda said.

They said married life so far has been wonderful, and they’re hoping to plan a honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.

“It’s like no time has passed. We’re almost 50, but I still feel like I’m with that 17-year-old girl,” Michael said. “She’s just as funny. We still have days where we can’t stop laughing.”

“There is something very unique and special about a first love,” Price said. “To be given the opportunity to have that back again, I think it’s pretty rare.”

The movie ticket stub is still in Michael’s wallet. It never moved.

“It never will,” he said.