Some love stories begin with perfect timing. Others take a little longer, and a lot of life, to come full circle.

Burton McLucas ‘87 and Kelly Nevins Kraines ‘89 first met at Fountain Valley School in 1987. Burton was a senior. Kelly was a sophomore. And as anyone who has spent time on the Prairie knows, it did not take long to notice someone special.

“FVS is such a small place, everybody knows everybody,” Burton said. “I noticed her beautiful smile, her infectious laugh. I just thought she was beautiful.”

From afar, Burton admired Kelly as a standout volleyball player, watching her matches and seeing her around campus. Kelly noticed Burton too.

“I thought he was cute,” she smiled. “He had lots of long hair, he was athletic, and he had a big group of friends. People gravitated toward him.”

They liked each other, but never quite dated. Burton kissed her once, a moment he does not remember, though Kelly definitely does. 

“Obviously, I liked it,” she laughed. “Or I wouldn’t have reached out 30-something years later!”

Kelly thought he might ask her to prom that day near the art barn. He did not. Graduation came, and they went their separate ways.

This was long before cell phones, texting or social media. Staying in touch meant memorizing phone numbers and actually picking up the phone. They were in different friend groups and different phases of life. In high school, two years can feel like a decade. Even so, a lasting impression had been made.

Life after FVS took them in different directions. Kelly went to college, got married, had a daughter, and later divorced. Burton joined the military, spending time in Europe and the Middle East, including during the Gulf War. He returned to Colorado, worked in airline logistics, got married, “got unmarried,” and somewhere along the way, became a dad. 

Years later, both of their daughters, Logan Kraines ’25 and Brianna M. ’26, who now call each other sisters, would attend Fountain Valley, inspired by the friendships, independence, and sense of belonging their parents still carried from their own high school years.

Over the years, Kelly and Burton stayed loosely connected on Facebook, checking in on each other from time to time. Kelly had faced her own battle with cancer, and when Burton’s stepfather, Chris Lowell—a beloved French teacher and theatre director whose tenure at FVS spanned nearly three decades—passed away from cancer, she reached out on Facebook.

Nearly 30 years after they first met, everything finally lined up.

“In March it will be four years since I slid into his DMs,” Kelly laughed.

They talked on the phone, sometimes for up to eight hours a day. At first, they considered going to Reunion together, but eventually decided that could be a strange first date.

Instead, their first date was at an Italian restaurant. Burton held Kelly’s hand the entire time, and they both ate dinner one-handed. They smiled so much that a stranger came up and asked to take their picture.

“You guys just look really happy,” the person said.

“It was really easy,” Kelly shared. “No awkwardness. He is still the same person. He has not changed at all. Seeing him now as a girl dad was really special.”

They caught up on 30 years of life in what Kelly called verbally vomiting everything that had happened.

“When you are our age, it's different,” she said. “Your priorities are different. We just needed the right time. Fountain Valley was the precursor to the right time.”

Burton felt the same way.

“She looked the same. Acted the same,” he said. “FVS has such amazing alumni. They are smart, kind, and do amazing things. Kelly is one of those people. It was easy to be attracted to that.”

When asked what they admire most about each other, their answers came quickly.

“I admire his loyalty,” Kelly said. “To his close friends and family. He would do anything for the people he loves.”

Burton smiled. “She is caring, loving, thoughtful, generous, and smart.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kelly joked. “You have a whole laundry list and I said one thing. Is this how vows are going to go? You will have a book and I will have a page!”

They are both quick to point out the ways FVS shaped (and continues to shape) who they both became.

“Fountain Valley was huge in my journey,” Kelly said. “It gave me the opportunity to manifest my own destiny. It made me independent and creative.”

She went on to major in English, perform in plays, and now serves as Director of Education for an international lung cancer association.

Burton, a faculty kid who lived on campus for 10 years, described FVS as his backyard.

“I cannot think of a more amazing place to grow up,” he said. “The teachers just taught all the time. They taught me how to analyze, how to question, how to teach yourself. Every day, I am still teaching myself new things.”

They both spoke about the deep sense of community that stays with FVS alumni. From reconnecting with old friends during COVID Zoom nights to knocking on doors and delivering specially curated acceptance boxes to incoming students, their involvement runs deep.

“They do not even know what is in store for them,” Kelly said of the incoming FVS students.

Sharing an FVS background has also blended their lives in a unique way.

“What is really nice is we now have each other’s friends,” Kelly said. “We have this shared circle.”

Their engagement was just as joyful and unconventional as their story. Kelly proposed to Burton on his birthday in San Diego, with help from both of their daughters. He thought he was opening a birthday watch. Instead, it was a ring.

“I was speechless,” Burton said.

Once again, a stranger came up and asked to take a picture.

Today, they travel together, spend lots of time with family, and fully commit to elaborate Halloween costumes, from Fred and Wilma to Wednesday and Uncle Fester.

“We get to make our own rules,” Kelly said.

Today, they both credit FVS for their meeting, even if Burton’s memory of those early moments is a little fuzzy.

"We would never have been in each other’s circles,” Kelly said. “It's all because of Fountain Valley.”

Some love stories just need time, and the right place, to find their way home. For Burton and Kelly, that place began on the wide-open Prairie.

Do you have a Fountain Valley love story of your own? We would love to hear it. Share your story with us HERE.