The hit pop sensation and actress Jennifer Lopez and Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor Ben Affleck initially met on the sets of the 2003 rom-com Gigli. Since then, the two went on to become one of the most well-known Hollywood couples to be featured in the tabloids in the early 2000s. Though fate set them apart just two years later, the couple is currently commemorating their first wedding anniversary 21 years later.
Celebrating the big day, J-Lo penned down a heartfelt poem for her husband in an Instagram post on Aug. 21. Fans were quick to react to the post with hearty eyes and heartfelt words expressing their joy at the couple’s happy married life. The 54-year-old pop icon also posted some unseen pictures from her wedding day to express her love and gratitude for their relationship. Her poem read:
“Dear Ben,
Sitting here alone
Looking at my ring ring
Feeling overwhelmed
It makes me wanna sing sing
How did we end up here
Without a rewind
Oh my
This is my life…”
Lopez concluded the caption by signing her name, Jennifer, along with a white heart. She used the hashtags #DearBenPartII and #ThisIsMeNow, which is also the title of her upcoming ninth studio album. The album is inspired by her journey of the last two decades, which leaves us with the speculation if the poem is actually lyrics to one of her upcoming songs.
Lopez and Affleck were previously set to be married in Santa Barbara on Sept. 14, 2003, but the pair postponed their wedding (via PEOPLE) and eventually broke up in Jan. 2004. Both Lopez and Affleck found love and started individual families with their partners after separation. However, the two found their way back together in April 2021, and eventually announced their rekindled romance on Instagram a few months later on her birthday on July 24.
In her interview with PEOPLE in 2016, Lopez said that despite their split, there was “genuine love” between herself and Affleck, and it seems that the universe agreed. Lopez and Affleck got engaged for the second time in April 2022 (via PEOPLE) and eventually got married on July 16 with an official wedding celebration on Aug. 20.
In her On the JLO newsletter, Lopez previously poured her feelings about the marriage and wrote, “Some old wounds were healed that day and the weight of the past finally lifted off our shoulders.” She also highlighted how their 20-year-old romance finally got its happy ending, saying, “Full circle — and not at all the way we planned it. Better.”
Lopez’s adorable Instagram post confirms that the couple is destined to be together, and their love story is certainly proof of how fate works in its own beautiful way.