Back in June, Josiah Duggar married Lauren Swanson in a ceremony that pretty much matched the blueprint for all Duggar weddings that preceded it.
But there was one important difference with Lauren and Josiah’s nuptials.
You see, unlike his siblings, when Josiah met his spouse, he was already no stranger in the ways of love.
In fact, he had extensive experience with hand-holding, chaperoned dates, and, yes … even side side-hugs.
As you may recall Josiah courted Marjorie Jackson before he met Lauren.
The relationship ended abruptly and without explanation after just three months.
Josiah later offered a vague explanation for his breakup with Marjorie, but fans still felt confused.
After all, Josiah and Marjorie may have been young, but the expectations for dating Duggars are extremely high and very specific.
The family describes courtship as “dating with a purpose” — that purpose being marriage, of course.
It’s unheard of for Duggar couples to call it quits after announcing a courtship, which is why fans were so weirded out when Josiah and Marjorie quietly went their separate ways.
And it’s also why they were confused a second time this week when Jinger Duggar’s husband Jeremy Vuolo posted the above photo on Instagram.
“A thoughtful birthday gift from my lovely wife: handwritten calligraphy of the words ‘Og mit liv’ for my office,” Jeremy explained in the caption.
Jeremy went on to explain that the quote comes from a missionary he admires.
But it’s the end of the caption that really caught his followers’ attention.
“Calligraphy by @marjorie.e.jackson,” Vuolo wrote.
Yes, that’s the very same Marjorie Jackson that courted Josiah.
Now, the Duggars are said to be a forgiving lot, so we guess it’s not terribly surprising that they’re not big on holding grudges.
But it’s worth noting that Josiah and Marjorie’s breakup was no amicable parting of ways.
Fans only learned of the split when Josiah deleted every photo of his ex from his Instagram page.
At one point, sources claimed the Duggars were concerned that Marjorie would write a tell-all about her time with the family.
So you can see why so many were caught off guard by the fact that Marjorie maintains ties with the family.
Of course, it makes sense that Jim Bob would keep a young, single fundamentalist like Marjorie in his Rolodex.
Dude has a lot of sons to marry off yet.
