It was Caleb and Kelsie’s first Wheaton Academy instrumental tour in November 2017. Both sophomores, they were eager to meet new friends, travel to Grand Rapids, MI, and play music as a band and orchestra. On the tour bus, Kelsie ended up sitting right in front of Caleb and his friend Will, both of whom she knew but had never met before. Kelsie thought it would be funny to airdrop random funny pictures to Caleb, just to spark some conversation. Will, a friendly, extroverted kid who couldn’t stay in the same seat for one bus ride, hopped around, chatting away with different friends, leaving the seat next to Caleb empty. Heart pounding, Kelsie boldly made her move and sat down next to Caleb and the two continued to talk and get to know each other better throughout the tour, even exchanging Snapchat’s and numbers. The highlights of that tour were sitting by each other in the worst production of the Little Mermaid they had ever seen and Kelsie’s nerves overtaking her stomach one evening at an Italian restaurant… Through the rest of sophomore year, mutual feelings began to grow for each other. Kelsie and Caleb remained good friends for months but started dating the summer before their Junior year. Being only 16 however, the two had some maturing to do (shoutout to Wheaton Academy’s very own Mr. Steve “Willy” Willemssen) and the high school romance came to an end late Junior year…for the moment. Fast forward to January 2020 of senior year, when Caleb and Kelsie traveled to Guatemala for a Winterim missions trip together. Interacting in a small group together for the first time in awhile (and perhaps influenced by the magic of Guatemala), the two discussed rekindling their friendship slowly and maturely during a walk at the end of the trip. Shortly following the trip to Guatemala, the COVID-19 pandemic ended Caleb and Kelsie’s in-person time at Wheaton Academy. It did not however, end their in-person time spent together, but perhaps had the opposite effect (despite the lockdown…oops). The summer of 2020 yielded many outdoor activities such as bike riding, hikes, and picnics. The time came for the two of them to make their final college decisions, but as importantly to decide on the future of their relationship. Although both were considering other colleges, they each came to their own decision to go to Wheaton College. It cannot be denied that the prospect of attending college together may have played some role as well. With the next four years together at Wheaton College ahead of them, Caleb and Kelsie decided to start dating again over a picnic on June 12, 2020. The rest is history…

2023 was a more challenging year for Caleb and Kelsie. As part of Wheaton College’s Human Needs and Global Resources program, Caleb left on May 20th for a six-month internship at a medical clinic in Guatemala. As they said goodbye, they exchanged gifts for the time apart. Kelsie performed a song she had written for the time apart and gave a stack of notes to be opened at various points of the internship. Caleb gave his record player and the first of seven monthly packages to be delivered to Kelsie, each of which contained a few records and a note related to the time of year and their memories together. Fast-forward a few months, weekly FaceTime calls, and many handwritten notes later, Caleb returned on November 18 and was welcomed home by Kelsie, alongside family and friends. Unknown to Kelsie, the long-awaited anticipation of seeing his girlfriend again had motivated hours of proposal preparation in September and October, including a call with Kelsie’s parents and a secret invite to friends for a post-engagement party. Come December 1st, the countdown commenced as Caleb gave Kelsie a December advent calendar with 15 envelopes, claiming it was to count down the 15 days until Kelsie would finish final exams and be on Christmas break. As she opened each daily envelope, inside was a notecard with a Christmas song on the front and a brief description of something Caleb loved about Kelsie, related to a lyric from the day’s song. Finally, December 15th arrived. Kelsie finished finals in the morning, opened the last envelope, and prepared to head home for the holidays. With her parents conveniently unable to pick her up or lend her a car, she had no other choice but to ask Caleb if he could drive her home, which he so kindly accepted. Briefly stopping at Caleb’s home, his mom mentioned a cute coffee shop and Christmas lights in downtown Geneva worth stopping by, as it was on the route. Despite Apple Maps showing the cafe was closed, Caleb insisted they still swing by, and finding it open, stopped for a coffee date. Following coffee, they walked downtown to see the lights. Kelsie noticed a slight change as Caleb’s surprisingly-composed demeanor changed a bit as he stopped by the car to grab a present. She noted the wrapped present looked largely like a record (not a ring…). They walked to a nearby bench where he told her to open the present. Inside was in fact a record, with the album cover displaying the first letters of each song title from over the 15 days lining up to spell out “Will You Marry Me?” Caleb got on a knee and pulled out a ring as Kelsie attempted to decode the message amidst the overwhelmingness of the height of the moment. After Kelsie was composed enough to say ‘yes’, the couple shared a hug (and maybe a kiss). At last, Caleb returned Kelsie to her home, where not only her family awaited but also Caleb’s family and many of their friends who had stayed in town an extra day before returning home for Christmas break. The couple celebrated with family and friends, as the record player played the fifteen songs that had counted down the days to Kelsie and Caleb’s Christmas time engagement.