The couple knew that something was different about their Florence neighborhood when a man came up to their door early on and told them: “I know what you two are doing here.”

Heidi remembers being a little worried about what was coming next.

“He told me then: ‘I won’t throw rocks through your window, if you don’t throw rocks through mine.’”

She went on to serve 10 years as a volunteer with the local fire department. There was only one time that someone offered an off-color comment and after that was dealt with, she never heard another thing.

Today, most of the couple’s neighbors have a key to their home. They watch out for one another. One neighbor even offered to take the needed coursework to be ordained if the local judges refused to marry them.

“Here is not where I expected to find the support that we’ve found,” she said. “It’s been remarkable. I just couldn’t ask for more supportive or better neighbors.”

Last month, they found that support extended far beyond their neighborhood when they put their son in the car and made the trip to Missoula to officially tie the knot.