High School Sweethearts – Dawn Abasta-Poulsen and Shane Poulsen

When they first met in high school, Dawn Abasta and Shane Poulsen had no idea what the road ahead held in store. Sure, they dated and made their fair share of memories, but ultimately, the relationship came to an end, and it would take another three and a half decades before they finally officially reconnected and started the journey towards their happy ever after.
Dawn has worked for LBW Insurance for almost 30 years, and has a love for her community that’s virtually unmatched. When she’s not at work, she’s serving as a board member for various nonprofit organizations, like College of the Canyons and Circle of Hope. She’s also the founder of the 40 Under 40 event that takes place annually, though these are just a few testaments to her love for SCV.
Shane is currently retired but holds no less love for his community; he still volunteers when he can, and has worked with events like Vine to Wine and other opportunities that come up throughout the year.
Dawn and Shane originally broke things off in high school due to the intervention of Dawn’s father, who feared that the couple were getting too serious too quickly. Now, after years of constant check-ins and keeping in touch, they look back and laugh at the way their story got started.
Dawn describes Shane as romantic, kind, and determined, while Shane describes Dawn as eloquent, charming, and determined, too. Indeed, they both share a sense of perseverance that has kept them in contact over the years.
The initial reconnection happened in 2017. This was nearly eleven years after Shane was involved in the accident that caused his early retirement. It was early morning and out of the blue Dawn received a message on Facebook from Shane. Just a “hi, how are you?” and thus began the journey back to each other.
Of course, aside from their wedding day, the two of them share countless memories and highlights from their time together. There have been romantic getaways in wine country, fun trips with friends, and a lot of great relationships formed along the way.
Moving forward, Dawn and Shane plan to work through a bucket list of traveling goals, including Europe and Alaska. They also have plans to stay local, to keep close to their kids and grandkids, as well as the grandkids still on the way.
“We’re looking forward to slowing down life, and continuing to learn from our past to be the best versions of ourselves,” says Dawn.
They both have enough words of wisdom to go around after having had such a tumultuous journey; Dawn emphasizes the importance of communicating and learning each other’s love languages, while Shane describes perspective and open-mindedness as one of the major secrets to success in their marriage.
Together, they have many more years of love, laughs, and wine trips ahead of them. At the end of the day, they’re a couple who are held together by everything they have in common, and by the desire to continue growing together and learning even more about each other along the way.

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