Valentine’s day is the time for sappy, romantic love stories to be shared. And for one teacher at Highland, his movie-like love story started in a Pilates studio and went all the way to a wedding.
AP world history teacher Logan Garside was recently married to the love of his life, Meredith Clark, in Montana. After being married a few months, the couple is now expecting a baby girl who will be the sister of Clark’s 10-year-old daughter Ruby.
Coming from a very athletic family, Garside’s mom was a long-time Pilates client of Clark’s, and his sister worked for the same fitness studio Clark was teaching classes at.
So, for years, Clark was close to Garside’s family without ever knowing he existed.
One day, the two met when Garside took a class with Clark, but because she was focused on doing her job and part of being a group fitness instructor is meeting countless people every day, he was a very fleeting memory in her mind.
Once Garside started working at the same studio, they began hanging out with the same people outside of work and became friends for a few years before they started dating three years ago.
One of Clark’s favorite dates was when Garside got tickets to two March Madness basketball games in the Delta Center. After the games ended, they took a scooter home and got caught in the rain together.
They then spent the rest of the day at Clark’s apartment where Garside cooked dinner, and because they both love sports, watched even more basketball.
“I remember thinking that if I could have this much fun doing normal things with this one person, I knew I could enjoy the rest of my life with him,” Clark said.
Along with having a lot of fun with each other, Garside and Clark have many things they love about one another.
Garside loves how Clark is very strong-willed, independent and will fight for what she believes in, no matter what.
“She’s also very funny and she’s my best friend,” Garside said.
Clark adores how while she tends to take life too seriously, he is very carefree and is always there to be a positive light in her life.
“He’s always offering me a smile and laughs at all my jokes (which are terrible by the way I’m not that funny),” Clark said.
For one of their first dates, the two watched a show in the dome at the Clark Planetarium, so what’s more perfect than going back to propose?
During the show, Garside had the dome light up with a message as he brought Clark to the front, dropped to one knee, and popped the question.
Afterwards, they went to a restaurant bar across the street from the Gateway that was filled with some of their closest friends as they all celebrated the exciting news.
The wedding was a very small and intimate reception in Flathead Lake, Montana filled with the couple’s family and closest friends, and they even had one of their best friends marry them.
“It was perfect,” Garside said. “It was exactly the way we wanted it to be.”
Along with saying vows to Clark, Garside wrote separate vows for Clark’s daughter, Ruby, promising that he’ll always be there as a father and role model for her.
And Garside has done a great job of keeping that promise before and after the wedding.
Because Garside and Clark had been friends for years before, Ruby already knew who he was. She and Garside’s sister are also very close, so when Clark and Garside started hanging out more, Ruby didn’t think much of it.
When they started seriously dating, they waited a long time to tell Ruby that they even had feelings for each other and made sure to not force any big changes without establishing boundaries.
“He was very patient with this and that was another sign he was worth keeping around forever,” Clark said.
Not only was this a big change for Ruby, but it was also a big change for Garside too as he suddenly stepped into a father role.
Because Garside and Clark didn’t always live together, it didn’t feel very different from his everyday routine. But when Clark and Ruby moved in, the dynamic changed instantly.
Garside became a dad almost immediately, which was very different than raising a kid and learning their everyday habits as they grow up.
“You have to learn on the fly,” Garside said. “You have to find the right balance of when to be fun and when to be the adult in the room.”
While Garside is learning the ins and outs of parenting, Clark is sitting back and enjoying watching how far he’s come in being a father for her daughter.
Clark finds Garside very fun, supportive, and loving towards Ruby, which allows her to relax because she doesn’t feel alone anymore.
“He has no idea, but he has taught me a lot over the last few years and my relationship with my daughter has really benefited because of him,” Clark said.
Garside and Ruby have grown really close over the years. He takes her to school most mornings, and sometimes she’ll come to work with him if she has a short day or just wants to hang out and say hi.
She’s always up to run errands with Garside who feels like she’s “a little sidekick” to him.
After a decade of being an only child, Ruby’s excited to have a little sister she can play and spend time with. And because there’s a big age gap, she won’t have to share any of her clothes or toys either.
But Ruby’s not the only with strong feelings towards Clark’s pregnancy.
Because Garside became an instant dad, he doesn’t know much about the first seven years of a kid’s life, which is the scary part. But he’s also very excited to raise a child and watch as they learn new things and come into their own.
“But then I’m also excited to watch this little mini version of me get older and I’m excited to watch them grow and figure things out,” Garside said.
Clark has similar feelings towards her pregnancy as she’s nervous about the huge change in her already comfortable life but also knows that raising a child together will be just as or more exciting than their life right now.
“I not only want to be the change I wish to see in the world, I also want to raise it,” Clark said.
Garside has supported Clark through all the ups and downs of pregnancy and has been preparing himself for when the baby comes.
He’s been reading a lot of books about parenting and becoming a dad and has also taken up all the extra tasks around the house.
“He also doesn’t judge me when I rot in bed all day and scroll and binge tv which I think is a very subtle way to support a person,” Clark said.
It may be hard at times, but Garside and his family have found a lot of love together and are excited to see where this adventure takes them.
