By Rachael Lindley
Photos courtesy of June Naylor and Marshall Harris
June Naylor and Marshall Harris like to say they met at TCU. But the truth — the better truth — is that they met at a bowling alley.
It was their senior year, paired together for a student fundraiser: he, a standout football player majoring in art and she, a journalism student who was admittedly terrible at bowling. He was charming. She was funny. They dated briefly and casually. When graduation arrived, Marshall was drafted into the NFL and life pulled them apart.
“Marshall kind of disappeared after graduation but a few weeks later a long letter arrived. It was the first time he’d put emotion on paper and it stopped me in my tracks,” June says. “He wrote more in that letter than he ever said out loud back then.”
Marshall recently found the aforementioned letter in their joint archives.
“I reread that letter and thought, ‘Wow… I really said all that,’” said Marshall.
For decades, their paths crossed only at the edges through mutual friends, reunions and a pivotal moment when June pitched a story to her Star-Telegram editor about Marshall’s career move from the NFL to the United States Football League, a story that resulted in her first by-line.
And while the two enjoyed reconnecting, the timing wasn’t quite right.
Meanwhile, June became an accomplished freelance writer in Fort Worth writing for a number of publications while Marshall continued to hone his art.
In 2010 Marshall moved back to Fort Worth after 30 years away. What followed was not a whirlwind romance but something quieter. Harris was in the midst of ending a relationship and felt that relocating back to his hometown was the perfect antidote.
For nearly two years they were simply friends.
The pair shared a love of cooking and bonded over a dish by Dorie Greenspan’s “pumpkin stuffed with everything good.” During this time while June traveled for work, Marshall would house sit, cleaning her home from top to bottom and even building her a new pantry.
They talked constantly, supporting each other through career reinventions, aging parents and personal transitions.
“That was intentional,” says Marshall. He needed to be ready and June sensed this and waited.
When romance finally arrived, it was built on a foundation of trust, patience and a mutual respect for each other. Their lives intertwined seamlessly: her writing, his art, shared travels, shared rituals and leisurely mornings over coffee.
One Sunday morning in particular, the pajama-clad pair decided to get married. No pretense or spectacle. Just certainty.
Naylor and Harris married in 2014 surrounded by family and friends with wedding bands engraved with a single word: “Ubuntu,” an African phrase meaning I am because we are.
In 2021, June and Marshall embarked on a life-changing three month artist residency in Paris with FACE or the French-American Creative Exchange run by artist and community arts organizer Monte Laster.
While Marshall worked on the social engagement art project, June was there to relish and document every bit of the culturally diverse environment.
As of late, the pair prioritize candlelit dinners with the good silver and crystal, museum dates, long conversations and the understanding that love is sometimes something you grow into. And sometimes that can’t be rushed.