The Test of Time

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: October 2023

Anna Claire and Travis Ramey

Anna Claire Sims and Travis Ramey were more than just high school sweethearts.  

They were in kindergarten the first time they met at the Highlands School in 1991. 

By the time Travis told Anna Claire he loved her; they were already in the fifth grade, obviously a million years from marrying, they couldn’t have known then that one day that would really happen.  As it turned out, it took another 10 years for him to tell her a second time.  

Both families have deep connections to Highlands, though Anna Claire’s family moved to town (from Athens, Georgia) only the summer before.  Her father owns and operates Highlands Lawn and Garden and her mother owns Highlands Pharmacy. Travis’s parents both work for the town of Highlands

Years elapsed between the days of that early infatuation, and Travis’s second declaration of love. The fifth grade romance gave way to the tumultuous years of adolescence and the pressures and new experiences of middle school and high school. In the interim, though their lives took much different paths, they remained close friends.

After high school graduation, Anna Claire left for Western Carolina University in Cullowhee to study nursing, and Travis started working full time at Highlands Lawn and Garden. In November 2005, during her sophomore year, he came for a visit.  And never left.  Their old romance was new again – clearly the couple were linked by more than mere geography.  

“We realized we missed each other – missed being in each other’s company,” said Anna Claire.  They understood that growing up together was the ballast that now brought them together, a common experience they could fall back on.  

As Travis recalled, “We just clicked, and decided to give it a shot.”  And so, they did, dating throughout the remainder of Anna Claire’s college years – falling in love once again.

August 9, 2008

In 2006, the couple celebrated Anna Claire’s birthday at the Log Cabin Restaurant in Highlands. Accompanying the dessert on the plate was an engagement ring.  As Travis got down on one knee and proposed, Anna Claire sobbed and nearby diners cheered. Their wedding announcement hardly came as surprise.  

“Our families knew we were going to be together before we did because we were so close through school,” said Travis.

They were married on August 9, 2008 in a ceremony on the field in front of the red barn on Shortoff Road in Highlands. When the service ended, they joined their 300 guests for a celebration and reception inside the barn. On their honeymoon they bought their first home – in Scaly Mountain. 

 It must have been a hectic time.  Anna Claire was finishing her nursing studies, working at Highlands-Cashiers Hospital and the Eckerd Living Center.  Travis was equally busy – growing the new business at the Highlands Rock Yard that he and David Sims had started a couple years earlier. 

“It was a challenging time, the first year or two of our marriage – taking on a new marriage, buying a house, learning the ins and outs of mortgages and payments and working every day trying to provide for one another,” said Travis.

With baby Harper, 2012

Harper, their first son was born in 2012.  Five years later Anna Claire gave birth to his younger brother, Maverick. 

As their family grew so did their need for living space expand.  In 2015, they bought five acres on Shortoff Road.  Two years later they started construction on their new home and moved in the following year.  

Over the years, their careers have thrived.  Moving up the ladder from her first days there, Anna Claire ultimately took on a leadership role as a hospital Nurse Care Manager; a position she’s held since 2016.  

Two years ago, as Travis described “We decided to take the leap and bought out my partner in the rock yard.”

With baby Maverick, 2017

In 15 years of marriage, they have become skilled at what for many is a high-wire act – balancing work and life and two growing boys.  

As Travis explained, “It’s a team effort.  When Anna Claire works late, I am available to be home, to get the children to school or get dinner ready.  And when I am not available, she picks up the weight. We have a lot going on. Our kids are very active in sports and school.  We’re continually striving to provide for them, to give them a better life.”  

That they complement each other as a couple makes life possible for the family.  

“He’s the calm one, while I am the busy body attending all the meetings, joining all the clubs,” Anna Clair told me. (She’s president of the Booster club for Highlands School athletics and on the Franklin Little League Baseball board.)  “We are proud of our relationship and the family and life we’ve made together; proud to be raising two strong independent boys that love people and love the Lord,” she said. Asked about her hopes for the future, Anna Claire went on, “to continue raising our children successfully; to live in Highlands and serve our community; to be near the family and friends we love so much.”