Thomas Rhett Still Remembers Wife Lauren Akins as High School Student

Thomas Rhett just released "Remember You Young," the latest single from his recent Center Point Road record. The song, which Rhett wrote with frequent co-writers Ashley Gorley and Jesse Frasure, was at least partly inspired by Rhett's early recollection of his wife, Lauren Akins, long before they tied the knot.

"'Remember You Young,' is a song that's really just about envisioning all your favorite people in your life in their prime, if you will," Rhett shared with his record label. "And that prime could mean a lot of different things. But for me like looking at my best friends today, in our almost thirties with kids and married, I will always see them as dumb high school kids. And I hope they see me the same.

"My wife, I've known her since she was little, but I will always envision Lauren in high school as well, working on floats at homecoming," he continued. "I think that's how I'll always see my wife. And my babies, no matter how old they get, I'll always see them at three and one for some reason."

Rhett and Akins are proud parents to daughters Willa Gray and Ada James. The singer recently opened up about his relationship with Akins, revealing it was his now father-in-law who prompted him to make a move.

'It was a sliding door moment, where it could have gone the other way," Rhett told HITS Daily Double. "We were dating other people. In another world, we might have married them. But there was always something different about Lauren, and we both felt it, but we never figured it out. The night of her sister's graduation party, we were buddies and I was there. I'd loved that girl since high school, and I told her father how I felt.

"He said, 'If you don't tell her, I'm going to,'" he continued. "It was a total Ryan Gosling moment. I said to her, 'I just want to kiss you one time. If you don't feel anything, we can go back to being friends.' I've learned this: It's wise to confront things instead of holding them in. That creates resistance instead of resolution."

Akins is the muse for much of Rhett's music, including another song on Center Point Road, called "Dreams You Never Had."

"I think in every marriage, you have to have compromise, and you have to do this weight balance thing, because each of you have to support each other so much," Rhett said (via ABC News Radio). "And that song really is somewhat of an apology and a thank you to Lauren, for just riding out this chaotic lifestyle we call the music business together, because it's not easy."

Photo Credit: Getty images/Jeff Kravitz