Together Forever

Kalissa and I both went to sunset lake when we were growing up. Since her mom volunteered as a nurse Kalissa was a familiar face. In addition to summer camp, I recall seeing Kalissa at several pathfinder events but don’t remember talking. I crossed paths with Kalissa again when I arrived for my freshman year at Walla Walla University in 2020. Socializing was few and far between because of Covid restrictions, but we shared a couple mutual friends and at least one online class that year. We rarely interacted except for a few times online with a group of friends. That was, until the following summer when we both worked at Sunset Lake Camp. Kalissa was hired last minute as a wrangler, and I was hired as a counselor. During staff training we barely were around each other since I was with counselors or rehearsing for the 5 night play. Our jobs rarely mixed, since she was fairly busy up at the horse barn, and I was typically accompanied by 7 children. Taking care of campers for roughly 20 hours a day made it a little hard to socialize. However, Kalissa and I were both on the same praise team which meant that Kalissa and I would talk here and there for maybe 5 minutes when our praise team practiced; but I didn’t think anything of it. And so the weeks of chaos passed by until the last two weeks of the summer when I didn’t have a cabin full of campers. I can distinctly remember taking a walk one night and talking with God along the way about my frustrations about my past relationships; specifically I remember asking God to show me what to do. The next day, I was on my way from dinner to get changed into my costume when I saw Kalissa sitting on her own in the gym on a gymnastics pad in a corner. I thought about how much time I had, but felt that checking on her was more important and so I walked over. She was having a rough week, and I asked if she wanted to talk about it. She opened up a bit about her week, and I asked if she wanted a hug and prayers. She said she did, and I gave her my number and said she could always text me if she needed to talk to someone. Later that week I noticed Kalissa was troubled by something and so I chased after her as she bolted through the staff room. We walked around and talked, this time less about camp and more about ourselves and the meaning of life. Casual conversation topics. I eventually walked her around the lake back to where her cabin was since it was after dark. After that I found myself, mostly unconsciously, looking for Kalissa whenever I had any free time. Which wasn’t hard since she was doing the same thing. When camp ended, it dawned on me that I really liked her and wanted to get to know her more. I was sitting at home, feeling a little empty with all my friends from camp gone, nothing to do, and no Kalissa in sight. I texted my friend Michael about wanting to ask Kalissa out, he was very supportive (and always has been since). But I was scared to reach out, until I saw on a friend’s Snapchat story that Kalissa was skydiving 20 minutes away from my house. I’d seen parachutes from people that went skydiving before, and so I headed outside and watched the sky like a hawk. I took pictures of what may or may not have been her in midair (it just looked like a speck of dust in the photo) and asked Kalissa if that was her skydiving. From there, we kept talking every day on Snapchat until school started again. We took research writing together that fall. I got her dark chocolate wrapped in a bow for her birthday. Michael pushed me to ask her to go swing dancing with us, which she did. She was the best dance partner I’ve ever had. I invited her to a friend’s house for a boardgame night, and she asked if I wanted to watch two movies we had to watch for research writing together. Then I told her I loved her after a very emotional day on October 10, 2021, and we’ve been together ever since. On December 3, 2022 I asked Kalissa to marry me and she said yes!

Isaac and I both went to and loved camp when we were younger. I remember him from my times at camp and even had a crush on him at one point. We talked a couple of times, but it was very limited. Isaac’s mom told us not too long ago that Isaac and I actually played at the same band festival, but we did not really know of each other’s existence until much later. We both applied to work at Sunset Lake Camp for the summer of 2020, but then COVID hit. After that summer we both went to Walla Walla University as freshmen. We waved at each other a few times and said hi, so we knew of each other just not very well. I had a friend that also ran in Isaac’s circle of friends and he invited me to play an online game with Isaac and their friends. I ended up only going to one online meeting with them and did not go back. Fast forward to the next summer. I had a job all lined up and was not planning on going back to Sunset Lake for that summer. But the head of the horse barn, Heather (thank you Heather for helping us get together!), texted me and said they needed someone else at the barn for the summer. So, I prayed about it and felt like that was where I needed to go and be. I quit my other job before I had even started, packed up a few things, and headed out the next morning for a summer at Sunset Lake Camp. It was a hard summer and there were a lot of things I was going through. Isaac and I were on the same praise team, but other than that we did not get to interact that much because I was always at the horse barn and he was always counseling a cabin of children. About halfway through the summer, I realized that I had feelings for him. I did not know what to do with these feelings, so I just ignored them. The second to last week of camp arrived and I was having a rough time. Isaac saw me sitting alone and came over to talk with me even though he had somewhere he needed to be. We prayed together and he gave me a hug, he also gave me his number in case I needed to talk. The last week of camp rolls around and a really horrible thing happened one night and I was tired, angry, and crying. I ran through the staff lounge crying after I get outside I turned and saw Isaac standing behind me. He asked me if I was okay and I answered honestly. I told him that something really bad had happened. He asked if I wanted to walk and talk for a little bit. So, we walked in circles around the gym and we talked about all kinds of things. Isaac then walked me back to my cabin around the lake and offered me a handshake. I teased him and ended up getting a side hug (camp approved hugs). Camp ended soon after that and we went our separate ways. Or so I thought. I ended up going skydiving with one of my friends after camp and posted about it on my Instagram story. Isaac replied and mentioned that it was only like 20 minutes from where he lived and that he might be able to see me parachuting down. He sent a picture of me (presumably) as a tiny speck in the sky. I was planning to leave and go home later that day and I thought about texting him and asking if he wanted to hang out or get food, but I chickened out. We continued texting and talking for the next couple of weeks. Fall quarter at Walla Walla University starts and Isaac invited me to go swing dancing with him and his friends. It felt like a magical moment where time slowed down. After that he invited me to a board game night at someone’s house. And that quarter we also somehow ended up in the same research writing class. So, I told Isaac that we could watch the movies for class at my apartment. That day there were a lot of emotions. I got some really bad news in the middle of one of the movies. Isaac stayed with me the whole time and comforted me, then he told me he loved me. We started officially dating after that and well, the rest is history! I mean you all can probably guess what happened because we are getting married! And the rest of the story is yet to come.