Lindsey & Travis
The Story
2010
The backstory...
Lindsey: I wasn’t even supposed to still be in Illinois the day I met Travis Robert Leatherman, but my family’s trip got extended. On the last day there, my friend asked me to volunteer for the John Deere Classic golf tournament. Travis: My buddy was volunteering for the tournament but had to work at the last second, so my friend asked me instead. Little did I know that when I walked into the house, I would meet Lindsey moments later.
WE MEET
the very beginning...
Lindsey: I was sixteen years old, standing in my friend’s kitchen wearing a bright yellow golf tee and a visor (not my best look), and the door swung open. Trav was so tall that he had to bend down to get through, and I remember him standing up and my eyes going wide and my face turning very, very red. I remember being so embarrassed for blushing and being in this ridiculous outfit and having forever evidence of it. See photo above. Travis: I spent a day with this incredible girl laughing, joking, teasing, and talking. Lindsey confidently imitated the warning stickers of all the large tractors, we met some of the pro golfers, and rode in golf carts (and sat by each other every time). After the tournament, we said goodbye in the driveway.
NOT THE END
Another beginning...
Lindsey: It was the longest goodbye and I was ridiculously sad. I crawled in bed that night and typed out the most melodramatic letter a 16 year old can. In the letter, I wrote that I couldn’t believe I’d never see him again, that he was very charming, and that I wished we could have been friends...I saved it on my hard drive, but didn’t dare send it. Then my family went back to TN and I thought that was that. Travis: A few days later, our mutual friend “borrowed my phone” to text Lindsey. Lindsey: I was standing in Walmart when I got a text that said, “Hey this is Travis’s phone. Don’t worry, I told him you two are going to get married.” I died right then and there. Here’s the abbreviated version of what happened in the years that followed...
2011
Friends, not dating...
We’re good friends, that’s it. Travis dates another girl. Lindsey gets mad and says goodbye forever.
2012
We meet again, still not dating...
Travis is no longer dating another girl. Lindsey takes back her goodbye. We see each other for the first time in two years and pick right back up. After a hopeful “maybe they’ll date!,” Lindsey turns Travis down. Lindsey starts college, Travis moves to Chicago. We see each other again, but still just friends.
2013
We date, and then do not date...
Lindsey misses Travis, writes him a letter. Travis comes to visit her in Tennessee. We start dating...but long distance in the middle of college is very hard. We stop dating...but stay friends. Lindsey continues college, Travis moves to Minnesota.
2014
Still sort of friends...
We write letters to each other on birthdays. We talk every once and awhile.
2015
Real friends...
Lindsey sees Travis in Illinois. Afterwards, she tells her mom that if we were living in the same city, we’d be married by now. Travis misses Lindsey, but still isn’t sure how to figure out the long distance.
2016
The awkward in-between...
Travis decides to visits Lindsey in Tennessee. Lindsey panics. We stay awkward friends.
2017
Still sort of friends...
Lindsey has a dream that Travis proposes to her. She writes an angsty poem about it. Travis moves back to Illinois, then to Colorado. We reach out to Skype, but never follow through...
2018
FINALLY...
Lindsey: I was at Hyvee, sitting there with my grandparents, and thought of Trav. But I didn’t act on it for over three weeks…I debated and debated reaching out. Eventually my roommate hit send for me on a very innocuous text of hi, I thought of you. Travis: When I was in a very long stint of working in Ohio, I got a text. It was the same feeling I had when I was 17. A double take at the name on the text notification followed by a big cheesy smile. Lindsey: Trav took his sweet time responding. But finally he did. We Skyped for four hours, and I could not get over the man Trav had become. The next weekend, I asked all my coworkers, my parents, my brother, willing bystanders, if I should just drive up to Ohio and see him. I decided Bob Goff would do it, and so I went.
BEGINNING AGAIN
We KNOW this time...
I pulled up in my tiny white Fiat, and this 6’4” man dressed in his classic flannel stooped to fit inside and my heart sort of melted a bit and it was all over for me from there on. We sat in a diner across from each other in the middle of Ohio, eating our favorite meal (brunch) and he said, “Lindsey, I like you.” And that was that. The picture of us is us re-enacting the statue in Columbus, Ohio. Over the next few months, we were able to see each other every two weeks or so thanks to Trav’s travel schedule. There were a lot of miles covered in those few months - but we were just so excited to finally be dating, we didn’t mind.
2019
THE BIG MOVE!!
Travis: Even though long distance was possible, we knew we wanted to live in the same city. After wise counsel, a lot of prayer, a half-day of filling out pages of graph paper on what we want our city and lives to look like, we landed on me picking up my life and moving to Tennessee. Lindsey: Figuring out how to date in the same city was a whole other thing. A lot of teary conversations and communicating and growing and patience required (not my strong suit). But through it all, Trav has given me more grace than I knew a human was capable of. We are exact opposites in about a million ways and learning to bring those together has been (and will continue to be) an adventure. But there is absolutely no one else on earth I’d want to spend my life learning and growing with than Travis Robert.
AND FINALLY
The Proposal...
Travis: On November 2nd, one of Lindsey’s Matrons of Honor, Sarah, flew in to Nashville to visit Lindsey. I had planned with Sarah to make sure Lindsey got to the top of a hill in Thompsons Station, TN at approximately 5:45pm. Lindsey: Nobody needs to take a hike at a specific time...I had a hunch all day, but so appreciated Sarah attempting to lie for me :) It was the absolute sweetest to round the corner and see Travis silhouetted at the top of the hill. I turned to Sarah and said, “Is that my human?” And she nodded and bear hugged me and sent me on my way. I walked up to Trav and he read me a beautiful letter he had written. His last line was the line from my dream of him proposing. I said yes.
2020
WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!
Travis: After almost 10 years, a lot of phone calls, texts, and skype calls, an impressive amount of miles driven and flown, a lot of handwritten letters, and finally being in the same city, we’ll get to call each other husband and wife on April 19th, 2020. Lindsey is an incredible girl I’m so blessed to know. She lights up a room with a smile, is so unbelievably kind to everyone she meets, and I can’t wait to spend a lifetime with her. We can’t wait to have (YOU!) our family and friends join us to celebrate and continue this decade long story for decades more.