Brad Johnson and Amri Carrasco-Johnson met as teenagers through the Plano ISD drumline program and began dating in 2018 at just 16 years old. Their story is not one of fairy-tale simplicity but one of resilience, love, and commitment through life’s greatest challenges.
Soon after they began dating, Amri was diagnosed with a rare immune system condition that required a bone marrow transplant. “I thought for sure Brad would break up with her,” Amri’s mother recalls. “But he stayed by her side as we navigated the grueling process of pre-transplant testing.”
On New Year’s Day in 2020, during her senior year of high school, Amri and her mother flew to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland for what would become a four-month journey to receive the transplant. The procedure involved chemotherapy to wipe out Amri’s immune system, followed by the introduction of donor cells to rebuild her immunity.
Her father, Michael, and sister, Hava, made frequent trips to visit, and Brad came along as often as possible. Despite the transplant’s success, Amri remained fragile. When the pandemic struck in early 2020, she was discharged early, returning home before full recovery. Over the summer and fall, Brad and Amri practiced strict social distancing and masking, even while spending time together in the family’s backyard.
Amri’s determination was evident as she completed her high school requirements from her hospital bed in 2020. By 2024, she had earned her master’s degree. “We call her our phoenix,” her mother says, “because she gloriously rose from the ashes.”
Brad quickly became part of the family, spending much of his time immersed in their close-knit dynamic, complete with quirky traditions and inside jokes. By the spring of 2023, he had a plan to solidify his place in their lives forever.
Brad approached Michael and Amri’s mother for lunch, where he asked for their blessing to propose. True to the family’s creative spirit, Brad wanted to incorporate their annual Easter tradition—a multi-hour treasure hunt for the girls’ Easter baskets—into his proposal. The family eagerly agreed, keeping the plan a secret from Hava.
On Easter morning, the family donned unusually nice attire, with the excuse of capturing a family photo at one of the treasure hunt stops. The final location was Haggard Park in downtown Plano, a meaningful spot for Brad and Amri, as it was where they had taken countless pre-dance photos during high school.
As the family arrived at the park, they discovered a trail of jelly beans leading to an archway adorned with hearts. Hava froze upon seeing what was ahead, while Amri broke into a full sprint toward Brad, who was kneeling beneath the arch, holding a giant golden Easter egg. In front of both families, Brad proposed, and Amri joyfully said yes.
In October 2024, the couple exchanged vows under the same archway, now covered in vibrant paper flowers. Surrounded by their closest friends and family, they pledged to choose love and respect, to support each other through life’s trials, and to prioritize their relationship above all.
“These two know hardship, they know loss,” Amri’s mother says. “But they also know recovery, empathy, and how to find light in the darkest times.”
During her Maid of Honor speech, Hava was overcome with emotion but managed to deliver one final sentiment. When someone asked her how it felt to be getting a new brother, she replied, “I don’t know what you mean—I’ve had a big brother for six years.”
The love and resilience shared by Brad and Amri are a testament to their strength as individuals and as a couple. For their families and everyone who knows them, their story serves as a beautiful reminder of the power of love to endure and triumph, even in the face of life’s greatest challenges.
Surrounded by their closest friends and family, they pledged to choose love and respect, to support each other through life’s trials, and to prioritize their relationship above all.