Inside Kimberly Schlapman's Marriage
After the tragic death of Little Big Town singer Kimberly Schlapman's first husband, Steve Roads, the musician wasn't looking for love, nor did she think she would ever find love again. But, according to a 2013 report from The Boot, Kimberly's friends rallied around her as she grieved, and, as they did, one of them — a man named Stephen Schlapman, Kimberly's now-husband — caught her eye.
"I wasn't planning on falling in love, at all," Kimberly admitted. "I didn't want to ... I wasn't sure that I ever would. So, my husband now and I were just really good friends, and after my late husband died, all my friends were calling me, all the time. Just checking up on me. He was just an old friend."
Kimberly went on to reveal that she and Stephen had known one another for about six years before he began reaching out to her on the phone to check on her. Then, as time continued, she noticed he was reaching out far more than anyone else.
Kimberly Schlapman and her husband bonded over loss
Kimberly went on to say that while Stephen didn't lose a partner, he did lose one of his close friends. Because of that, the two of them formed a deep connection with one another. "I had a lot of grief left, and he just took it and listened and accepted it and was so understanding and let me talk about my late husband all the time," Kimberly explained, according to The Boot. "We still talk about him a lot, and he's totally fine with it. He says that that made me who he fell in love with, and he never minds if I bring anything from the past up, which is just really sweet."
Looking back at the start of their relationship, Kimberly said she was hesitant at first to give in to her romantic feelings for him and noted that she was "shocked" by the way she was feeling. "I just thought, 'OK, this is so weird. What is this? I haven't felt this in a long, long time.' But eventually I allowed myself, and it's been the most beautiful gift of my life," Kimberly said.
Kimberly and Stephen have been married since 2006 and share two daughters, Daisy and Dolly.