How We Met
On Valentine’s Day, 2005, a very cute, loud and funny third-grade boy sent his friend over with a note for me, an extremely shy and timid second-grade girl. When I took the note, the person stood and waited for me to read it, as if to watch my reaction. I opened the note and it read “Micah will you be my Valentine? Circle yes or no.” The messenger then handed me a pencil and told me I only had a few seconds to make up my mind. I circled “yes,” and then decided for the first time in my life, I had a crush on a third grade boy, Tristan McBee. The following day at recess, the messenger who had delivered the note the day before had more news to share with me. This news was a little less exciting..Tristan had decided it was uncool to have a Valentine a year younger than him. Devastated, I steered clear of Tristan McBee, but he would forever be my first crush. I transferred to OCS in sixth grade and completed high school there. Tristan graduated from Edmond Memorial. Inevitably, we lost touch, but I always knew who Tristan was, and I admired him from afar.
I graduated from high school and chose to attend Oklahoma State University. I went through rush and pledged Theta. The Greek community at OSU is small, so everyone knows everyone. My first week of school, I ran into Tristan. We made the Oakdale connection and talked for a bit. I remember thinking Tristan was the most intentional, kind and warm boy I had talked to since I arrived. I left thinking I wanted to get to know him more. Our paths crossed quite a bit in the first few months of college. We talked as friends on Beta’s porch a time or two. There was something different about Tristan, and all of my friends noticed our compatibility. Theta formal was approaching, and I was going to ask either ask Tristan to be my date or someone I knew from the pomping room who was friends with the guys my friends were taking. I decided I would rather take T. We had a mutual friend, so I asked that friend to see if Tristan was free that weekend. There was a miscommunication, and Tristan did not end up going as my date, because he was never asked.
We both dated other people, but our paths crossed every once in a while. When I would run into him, our interactions were so different. They were refreshing and encouraging. He asked me questions and genuinely cared about how I was doing. I had a lot of respect for Tristan. I worked at Kanakuk Kamps every summer. My sophomore year of college was a year of enormous growth for me. The summer after sophomore year, I was at camp and wrote a standards list of characteristics I desired in a future husband that aligned with scripture. I decided I was not going to date junior year. I get to school in August and I run into Tristan McBee. We are both single for the first time since my freshman year. We catch up for a while and he asks for my number. Later that night, Tristan tells me “I would like to take you on a date.” I told him that would be something I would enjoy as well. On our first date, Tristan took me on top of a siloh that overlooked all of Stillwater. We got there at 6, watched the sun go down and talked for hours. Next thing we knew, it was 4 am and we had both lost track of time. I remember thinking that Tristan checked every standard I had written on the list I had written that summer. He was intentional, loving, and wise. He had a depth that I had not yet seen in a man his age. I remember thinking this date was different. I called my mom the next day and told her I was going to marry someone like Tristan McBee.
How They Asked
2 years later, he got on one knee at the waterfront of Hefner Lake. He washed my feet and read a letter aloud that ended in him asking me to be his wife. I circled yes for the second time in our relationship and for the last time in my life!
