BEST DAY EVER! Check out our vows below

Good afternoon, on behalf of John and Kristen, I am honored to welcome you all to camp as we celebrate their love and commitment to one another.   Immediately after the proposal I assumed there’d be a California wedding. John and Kristen live there, it’s Kristen’s home state, it just made sense. But Kristen had other plans in mind and what she said has resonated with me- she wanted to get married in Maine because it was a place that felt like theirs. It’s a place of simplicity, steadiness, it was an escape from the hustle and bustle of Boston and now from San Francisco it has truly become vacationland.   John and I would gladly spend hours, maybe days, telling everyone why Maine (and camp) is so great. But when a Californian who is always cold and is allergic to shellfish loves it too you know there must be something special. Over the years, Maine has created countless memories for these two and so for everyone who is in Maine for the first time, I hope this weekend conveys to you why it is such a special place to John and Kristen and that you leave as happy campers who love it as much as they do.   As any good love story starts, John and Kristen met in a bar, which is fitting since I have always said John’s natural environment is a bar given how loud he talks. So, we are all very lucky that Kristen met him in his true form and rather than running for ear plugs thought he was funny, friendly, confident and kind (her words, not mine). John left the bar thinking she was very West Coast-laid back and easy going. And as they say, the rest is history.   Growing up John always talked about moving to California, though I never really knew why, I never knew what his draw to the West Coast was, maybe simply that it was something different, but the world works in mysterious ways and just maybe the two of you were destined for one another well before any of us could have imagined. As we all know, John moved to Boston instead, but when I first heard about Kristen and that she was from California, I didn’t need to know anything else- I already knew she was the one.   They’re each a product of the coast they grew up on. John owns endless flannel shirts, has a strong Patriots allegiance and will passionately defend the New England IPA as the original hazy beer. Kristen thrives on grain bowls, thinks West Coast hip hop is superior and will tell you that California avocados are just better.

But they’ve picked up some traits from the other coast: John now knows tacos and burritos are best on the West and he will even eat vegetables. Kristen has somewhat embraced New England weather, she loves Fall and when it comes to Winter has learned that scarves are for function rather than fashion.   John and Kristen, though we have lived several states apart for the entirety of your relationship, when we are together it is always special and I can’t imagine a better pair for one another. When it comes to being sentimental, I will often defer to someone else, so I’ll credit this next part to Led Zeppelin:   If the sun refused to shine
I would still be loving you
When mountains crumble to the sea
There will still be you and me My love is strong, with you there is no wrong
Together we shall go until the end
Inspiration's what you are to me
Inspiration, look 'n' see And so, today my world, it smiles
Your hand in mine, we walk the miles
Thanks to you, it will be done
For you to me are the only one   John and Kristen have chosen to exchange rings as a sign of their commitment. The circle represents the earth, the sun and the universe. It symbolizes wholeness, perfection and unity. Like circles, these rings have no beginning and no end. They are a fitting symbol, then, to link these two souls forever.   I’d now like to invite Lincoln to bring us the rings.   John, Please place Kristen’s ring on her finger and make your vow to her.   Kristen, Please place John’s ring on his finger and make your vow to him.   A favorite quote of mine has always been “no road is too long with good company.” Look around you, at all of the family and friends gathered here today, to celebrate you and support you. Across the highs and lows that come in life you’ll have one another but you’ll also have this group that surrounds you today. So, here’s to many happy years of finding the best hiking trail followed by a good local beer, traveling to new places, seeing endless live shows and cooking new recipes together, afternoon naps for John and maybe a Frenchie for Kristen; keep living and loving the way life should be.   I am incredibly honored to speak these next words- by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

For the rest of our lives, we can argue about who asked for who’s number, but I think we can both agree it was something like fate bringing us both to Saloon for a drink at 5pm on a Tuesday back in 2014. Noted - our first date, I showed up at the wrong place, and our second date you took me out on your motorcycle to “walk in the woods”, but even then I think we knew it was the start of something great. I know 9 years may seem like a long time to get to this point, but I’m happy we do things at our own pace. Even after all that time, we are still learning new things about each other, finding new ways to annoy each other, but also new ways to support each other and to share joy. I think we complement each other perfectly, who would have though a hapa girl from so-cal who is literally always cold would fall in love during the snowiest winter on record in Boston with a bearded Italian-French-Irish guy from Maine who says “rum” instead of room. Despite these differences, I love that we are weird in very similar ways, and that our values align so deeply. And while we don’t always agree about things, we agree about the big things and that is most important. We’ve been able to grow both independently as people and together as a couple, and it’s a great feeling to be in love with your best friend and get to live with them and hang out all the time. We’ve had too many good times to recount (amazing trips and experiences and awesome shows or festivals, hiking cooking eating drinking). There’s been some challenges (like that time I broke my arm snowboarding, overcoming the unruly beard), a lot of changes (getting through grad school for me and now for you, changing jobs, moving across the country during a pandemic, transitioning from a motorcycle to an electric bicycle), and I know we will face even more challenges and have more change in the future, but I’m confident in us and am ready to meet whatever comes, with you. You’re a really great person, which I realize is a product of the family and friends who raised you, supported you, and cared for you. We are both so lucky to have all of these people in our lives, and even though I wanted to elope and you just wanted to party, I’m really glad we’re doing this with these people we love. You like to say that you’re “just a simple man”, but really you’re the purest person I know. You’re terrible to gossip with because you don’t think poorly of people and treat everyone with respect. You’re calm when things get crazy (or when I’m being crazy). You feel things deeply and really care. You’re driven and ambitious and I think you can do anything. You’re meticulous and careful, and help remind me to slow down sometimes. You have terrible jokes most of the time, and don’t get me started about repeating stories. You always make me feel special and smart and important and loved, and I am so truly lucky to be loved by you. I vow to try every day to make you feel safe, respected, smart, important, special, and loved, because you really are and you deserve it. I hope we can support each other to be the best people we can be, to be grateful for one another and to be present, actively choosing each day to show up for each other. I vow to trust you, and believe in you always, to try to laugh together as much as we can, and to make our lives full of light, and fun, and purpose. I know every day won’t be perfect, but I’m glad that I get to share the good and bad ones with you. I am honored to be your partner, I can’t wait to continue to build our lives together. So as we take this next step together in our relationship, I just want to take a beat to enjoy this moment with you - I love you so much and always will.

Kristen, I know it surprised you the first time I said “I love you”, the last 9 years have been a whirlwind of growth and my feelings have only grown stronger. While there were a lot of big intentional decisions made on the path here, I also need to thank a few lucky events. The first is the result of my second love, Ramen. If it weren’t for my regular trips to Snappy I likely wouldn’t have run into you that night at Saloon. While I don’t know what you were drinking that night, in my head it’s a rye Manhattan. The next bit of luck came courtesy of one of your sisters. While desperately trying to think of a date that would be cool enough to impress you, my brain decided the appropriate wording was “walk around the woods”. Thankfully before saying “no”, you received the following advice. “Murdering someone is a lot of work”. We ended up having a great day even though it did seem you were always a couple steps further away then normal. What I love most about you is how deeply you care about the people in your life and how driven you are to make the world a better place. The academic side of this is easy to quantify, even before you earned the title Doctor Nishimi you’d published a huge body of work detailing how trauma negatively impacts the lives and health of those around us. Where this has the biggest impact on our day to day lives is how you treat your friends and family. It’s clear to everyone who meets you how much you care about the people around you. Every time someone has reached out needing advice or just someone to listen, you’ve been there with patience and empathy. On numerous occasions I’ve found you on the phone well after your emotional battery had hit 0 supporting your friends. The other quality I love is your direct nature. You have always been up front about what you wanted from your future. This helped me make some big decisions. On an early, and probably cold, spring day a year and a half into dating you told me that you were planning to move down to JP. I went home deflated knowing that meant I would see you a lot less. On the surface, the simple solution was to move in together. Making that decision involved answering a much bigger question. Could I see myself moving to California? I spent the next week thinking about what that would mean and eventually reached what is now the obviously right answer. Over the next 4 years we built the life I had always dreamed of. Lots of cooking, and dinner, camping and concerts with close friend. For a short time this included an annual pilgrimage to Friendly Gathering. During that time my confidence in the decision to eventually move to California only grew. When you finally asked me I’d reconfirmed the decision so many times I didn’t need to think twice. Since then the life we built together epitomizes my favorite aspect of our relationship, the quiet moments we spend together. From our first hike on the Dipsea, riding my electric bike to the park for picnics, or just laying on the couch with my head in your lap, COVID just meant more time for the two of us. Last but not least, I think the world needs to know that hiding in Oakland is one of the world greatest narrators of young adult fiction. You’ve turned countless long car rides into adventures through a wrinkle in time, Narnia, and battles between the light and dark. The time we spend together is so special to me. I promise to put you and our family first. I promise to be open with my emotions even when I find it challenging to articulate how I feel. I promise to match the effort and energy you invest into bettering our lives and yourself so that I can be the person you deserve. Our first 9 years together have been fun and rewarding. I am so proud of who we have become as a couple and individuals. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us.

It began as many great loves do... at a bar. It was Fall 2014 and Kristen had spent the day moving in to her Sommerville apartment from California, and well, John was just stopping for a drink on a Tuesday. They got to talking in Saloon in Davis Square, and the rest was history. With John's help, Kristen quickly fell in love with New England and the two spent the next six years in Boston together, full of frequent trips up to Maine, music and fun with friends, and revisiting Saloon just once or twice to cheers their beginnings. In the summer of 2020, Kristen was able to convince John that the west coast wasn't too shabby either. In that first COVID summer, the two moved out to San Francisco. Enjoying all the sunshine and natural beauty, easy ride up to Tahoe, and undoubtedly superior Mexican food, Kristen and John decided to put some roots down and bought a house in Oakland. It was up in Tahoe that John finally popped the question, Kristen of course said yes, and the two are so excited to celebrate their marriage with everyone they hold dear back in New England where it all started!