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Greetings from the Mother of the Groom and the Mother of the Bride! We write today, January 13, 2021, exactly two months until Bruce and Rachael get married! We are so excited for our son and daughter! Since April 25, 2019, Bruce and Rachael have been planning their March 13, 2021 wedding. COVID-19 has caused those plans to be uncertain and constantly changing--MOST of that time. Despite COVID-19, they have continued in their commitment to their future and each other. Over the last few years, Bruce has completed Basic Training, Tech School, established himself in his job as an AGE in the Air Force, and is now working on college coursework from the American Military University. In that same period of time, Rachael blasted through her bachelor’s degree in Music and completed it early, by taking a year’s worth of credit in online classes just this past summer alone. She has applied for her master’s degree at Grand Canyon University and is exploring teaching credentials and opportunities in Louisiana already. Because of COVID-19, they’ve had to continue to grow as a couple at distance, sometimes spending much more time apart than they originally envisioned. In 2020, they spent less than five total weeks together—a few days in March, a few days in July, and three weeks in Nov-Dec (which was cut short because Rachael actually GOT coronavirus!). Other plans to see each other were disrupted by travel restrictions imposed by governments, the military, and the airlines. What has not wavered is their desire to get married on March 13th. We admire this certainty—and their commitment to each other. We support their decision. They are ready to start their life together! Yet with this joyful decision, they have found themselves having to make heart-wrenching choices, choices they cannot put off any longer.

When Rachael and Bruce say their vows on March 13, they will do so in the presence of their priest Fr. Booth, their Wedding Party, their parents, siblings, and grandparents. They are so sad that you will not be able to be there in person, but they hope and pray you will be there in spirit—and, on Zoom of course! Details will be posted on their wedding website https://www.zola.com/wedding/bruceandrachael . As their moms, we hope you will show your love for them by your prayers—and don’t forget their registry, also found on their website. We get to say that, because we are their moms, and we know they have an apartment to furnish! 😊 We promise, we want to have a big, HUGE party for them once we are past COVID-19. When we can get them back here to WA, we will plan it, and you (and the rest of the guest list they will miss so much on March 13th) will be the first to know! Love from the moms, Tiffany and Lori

Rachael and I met in an interesting way. I met her dad and brothers at Scout Camp a few years before I met her. She also worked with and was friends with my long time friend Tim. In 2016, Tim asked me to help him move firewood at his cabin. After we were done he said he had been invited to go see a band play nearby, which turned out to be Rachael's band "Checkmate Reality". Tim became the drummer for the band and invited me to hang out with him and the band. From then on Tim, Rachael, and I started to spend lots of time together. My sister and her friends needed me to drive them to Silverwood Theme Park and I asked Rachael to join me. We spent more time together from then on and we started dating on August 20th, 2017. Rachael and I went to different high schools and it being our senior year we had a lot of stuff going on between our schools (Homecoming/Prom). We were together basically every weekend. Since we spent the weekends together, Rachael invited me to join her for Mass and a little while later I was Baptized Catholic. Rachael got accepted into Washington State University (Go Cougs!) and I had signed my six-year contract with the US Air Force. We talked about the chance of us having to be in a long-distance relationship. Soon after, she went to college and I left to start my eight and a half weeks of Basic Training. After those long weeks of writing letters and a few phone calls, I graduated and went to Tech School. After finding out I was going to Louisiana for my first duty station, I bought Rachael's Ring. Coming home between Duty Stations, I proposed on April 25th, 2019 at a garden in Pullman WA. We're continuing our story now and forever and thank you all for your part in it!

I feel like he had always been around in my life. He had met my dad and brothers years before me, and had been best friends with one of my friends for years. God kept him at a distance until I needed him. We met in 2016 when I had invited Tim to come to a gig that our band, Checkmate Reality, was playing. I called him day-of to ask when he would be there and he asked if it was okay if he brought a friend. It was Bruce. Not long after, the three of us were spending a lot of time together. Bruce had invited me to go to Silverwood Theme Park with him so he would have someone to hang out with while he drove his sister and her friends there. I don’t remember all of the little details between June and August of 2017, but we started dating on August 20th, 2017. We were seniors in high school, going to two different high school. We spent our weekdays apart and our weekends together. A little foreshadowing, I’d say. In the following summer, I had been accepted to Washington State Univeristy and he had signed a six-year contract with the US Air Force. We had talked about the long-distance situation that the military life implied, but agreed to see what would happen. In August/September, I had left for school and he, to Basic Training. After eight and a half weeks, or an eternity, of writing letters and a total of three ten-minute phone calls, he had graduated Basic Training. He went to Tech school and got his first duty station, Louisiana. I was still unsure how we would manage living so far apart but Bruce was sure that “this isn’t over”. After spending the last seven months apart, he came home before moving to Louisiana and proposed on April 25th, 2019 in Pullman, WA. The rest of our story is still being written and the next big chapter of our lives is in the making. Thank you for being a part of our story! ♡