While boarding a Southwest Airlines plane in November 2008 for a flight from Los Angeles to Reno, Nevada, Brent Jameson was searching for a seat.

That airline allows passengers to pick their seats, and Jameson found an open spot next to a woman named Justine.

“I was walking down the aisle, saw Justine and I said, ‘There’s a cute girl. I’ll sit right here,’” Brent said.

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They struck up a conversation during the hourlong flight.

“We hit it off right away,” Brent said. “I kind of knew; I said, ‘This girl might be special.’”

They became Facebook friends but wound up only messaging each other once.

Two years later, Brent was coaching basketball at Sacramento High School in California and was with the team for a summer camp at Saint Mary’s College. He was by himself at one point when he ran into Justine, who was working at the college as an assistant to the basketball head coach.

Brent asked Justine where something was on campus, and she gave him a hard time.

“She’s like, ‘You don’t have a wristband. I’m not letting you in for free,’” Brent said.

Brent went on his way and came back around to Justine, and she told him she thought she knew him.

“I said, ‘Look, you don’t have to give me a pickup line. That’s the oldest one in the book. You can just ask me for my name and number,’” Brent said.

Justine told Brent to pull up Facebook on his cellphone to show that they were friends on the social media site. Sure enough, they were.

Justine said she remembered the company he worked for when they first met and his “witty banter” during that hour-long flight.

Brent told Justine his dream was to become a college basketball coach. Again, she gave him a hard time and said, “You’ve got to have a degree to do that. Where are you at with that?” He told her he was working on completing his bachelor’s degree, and she wanted him to prove he was registered for classes before they would start dating.

Brent took classes at a city college before finishing his degree at California State University East Bay. Justine liked how he followed through with his plans.

“Brent actually did everything he said he was going to do, and he was the first relationship I had that that actually happened with,” Justine said. “He did exactly what he said he would, he called when he said he would, and that was important to me.”

They dated from July 2010 until getting engaged in March 2012 and married Aug. 5, 2012.

The next year, Brent heard from his childhood friend and best man in his wedding, Kyle Clough, who was taking a boys basketball head-coaching job at Seymour High School.

The Jamesons moved to Seymour so Brent could be Clough’s assistant coach and serve as director of the Seymour Parks and Recreation Department, and Justine became athletics director at Girls Inc. of Jackson County.

On July 5, 2014, their son, Nash, was born.

Today being Valentine’s Day, the Jamesons are happy to report that their love for each other remains strong.

Justine said it’s neat how meeting Brent on the flight turned into something.

“Timing is everything, and I just feel super blessed that that happened,” she said. “It’s kind of like straight out of a movie.”

Justine said Brent has always been supportive and passionate about everything, from his family to his jobs.

“Some people are like that in some aspects of their life, but I feel like Brent is like that in everything he does, and that’s something that I really admired then and I still do today,” Justine said. “I think that’s a great quality for our kid to see.”

Brent said he is happy to have found a connection with Justine from the start.

“When I met her, I thought she was beautiful, so there’s that physical attraction. And then getting to know her, I was telling everybody, ‘This is too good to be true,’” he said. “I was telling my friends, ‘She’s kind, she’s not conceited at all, she’s a giving person, she cares about other people, she’s kind of a natural nurturer.’ I couldn’t find something that I didn’t like.”

Plus, Brent said Justine was a sports fanatic just like him.

“That was just kind of icing on the cake,” he said.

As for people looking for love or those already in a relationship, Justine said while passion and attraction are key, perhaps the most important aspect is friendship.

Justine said there was a time when she made a list of standards for dating. But once she met Brent, everything changed.

“Your perfect person isn’t just going to walk into your life,” Justine said. “We are lucky enough to have found each other twice, and we didn’t let that go. But at the same time, neither of us are perfect, so I think just accepting people’s good and bad and loving (is important).”

Brent’s advice goes back to how he and Justine first met.

“When you’re out and about, keep your eyes open and choose your seat wisely,” he said with a smile.

“You win that one, Brent,” Justine responded. “You win that one.”

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Brent Jameson, 30, is originally from Corunna, Michigan. He is director of the Seymour Parks and Recreation Department and serves as an assistant coach with the Seymour High School boys basketball program.

Justine Jameson, 29, is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina. She works part time as athletics director at Girls Inc. of Jackson County.

The Jamesons were married Aug. 5, 2012. They have one son, Nash, who was born July 5, 2014.

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