AUBURN — When Christopher Raymond and Dawn Monk began dating in 2004, both said never again. They had each been married twice before and had concluded that it wasn’t worth it.

But one year ago Sunday, there they were, saying “I do” in a Valentine’s Day ceremony.

As Dawn came down the aisle, “during the last 10 steps his eyes were on me,” she said. “At the expense of sounding corny, it made me feel all bubbly.”

They met at Hudson Bus Lines, where they worked.

She drove a minivan.

He drove a bus.

At first they were just friends.

“I kept an eye on him that whole first year,” she said. “When I saw that golden band on his finger, I kept my distance.”

“I was going through a divorce,” he said.

After his ring came off, she let him know she was going to a sock hop. He showed up. They danced. After that, “we were pretty much connected at the hip,” she said.

She was attracted to him because of his eyes and his positive outlook. “He tries to get a smile out of everybody for everything.”

He admired her personality. “We got along great. We always talked, had lunch together. She’s outgoing, has a good sense of humor.”

He, 34, introduced her to fishing. She, 37, helped with his children. Before long, the dating became living together.

“One day, we’re spending time together and it just hit me,” she said. “All of a sudden, bam, I think I’m in love. It just kept going from there. He taught me it was OK to be loved and to love again.”

He says she’s fun to be around. And she makes him laugh.

Sometimes it seems to her that he’s laughing at her for no reason. Christopher said her facial expression, or something she’s doing, “cracks me up.”

“Then his laugh makes me laugh,” she said. “And my laugh makes him laugh.”

But they’ve had challenges.

She has multiple sclerosis. “He’s the first one I told when I got the diagnosis,” she said. Standing in a garage at Hudson Bus, he told her he’d be there for her.

He goes with her to the doctor. “I know a lot about MS now.”

The disease has progressed, leaving her disabled. She has difficulty walking. At first she wondered if he would drop her. But “he’s been my caretaker,” she said. “He supports me physically and mentally.

He keeps me grounded. … It means more than words can describe.”

One day she changed her mind about never marrying again.

“I was the one who said, ‘You know what! I want to marry you,'” she said. “He said, ‘OK.'”

Their wedding was “awesome,” he said, “even though she was late.”

Dawn blushed. Their wedding party was big, she said. As everyone was getting ready, all decked out in Valentine colors, one bridesmaid took too long getting ready. “We ended up being 20 minutes late.”

He waited calmly in the church.

“I have a lot of patience,” he said. Even though it started late, “we had a good time.”

They’ll be celebrating their first anniversary with a night out. “It will be childless,” she said.

Dawn and Christopher Raymond, who were married last Valentine’s Day, relax in their apartment in Auburn viewing a photo taken during their wedding ceremony.

Dawn and Christopher Raymond’s wedding featured Valentine colors.