How We Met
Our story is one that takes some explaining. It is not just the simple we met and then that was it. When I (Jordan, the bride) was a senior in high school I attended a camp called Crossings. There, Travis (the groom), was the amazing electric guitar player in the band. Everyone thought he was amazing and talked about his insane shredding skills. This was our first time being in the same place, however, he does not remember me because I was one of the thousands of students to cross paths with him that year. Fast forward to my sophomore year in college. I decided to work at the same camp Travis had been at. But, this time our interactions were a little more memorable. Being a camp counselor is notoriously a grueling job. Because of this one of our mutual friends formally introduced us, as Travis was going to be bringing kids to the camp when I would be working there. She told us that we should be friends when he brings his students because talking to middle schoolers gets old after a while and Travis was apparently pretty cool.
Well, that was the end of that for me. However, Travis had other plans in mind. The time came for Travis to bring his students to camp. We talked a few times throughout the week he was there. All seemingly insignificant to me. But, come to find out Travis was scheming the whole time. The most notable conversation was in the lunch line on deli day. Discussing our mutual distaste for deli meat.
When the summer was over and I returned to school I was talking to my roommate about the amazing summer I had. My phone then rang with an invitation to go play dodge ball with a bunch of previous crossings staff members in the old gym on my campus. It was the day before classes and I was not sure if I wanted to be out late because I was nervous about starting my program the next day. After much convincing by my roommate, I went and there stood the boy I had talked to at camp the previous summer. He was about to begin classes at an institution that I was familiar with and knew many of the professors. So, we proceeded to talk about that. Again, seemingly insignificant to me. But, this time he was scheming even more than I knew.
After the dodge ball game was over I went back to my apartment and told my roommate about how much fun it was and how glad I was I had decided to attend. The net few days included Travis learning more about me through mutual friends including if I was in a relationship, I had never actually had a boyfriend before so the answer was of course no.
He slid into my DMs on Facebook with a simple “hey can I get your number”. Being the naive junior I was I of course said yes and the rest is thankfully history. First dates turned into second which was became serious relationship conversations. 9 months later a proposal.
How They Asked
This is my favorite story of all time. I am not one who enjoys surprises, I actually hate them. I would rather know so I can prepare myself for what is to come, I am very much a planner. However, Travis pulled off the surprise of a lifetime. We had been talking about when we wanted to get engaged and married. All along I was expecting a winter engagement and a summer wedding. But, Travis had plans of his own.
The day included a typical weekend at home. I got coffee with my best friend, who ended up asking when I thought we would get engaged. My response being “for all I know it could be today, but I really don’t think it will happen until this fall or winter”. Little did I know that Travis was at breakfast with my parents asking their permission.
I had no idea Travis was in the area, as he lived over an hour from where I was from. But, we had made plans for him to come in for lunch with me and then a birthday dinner for my mom that evening. I got home from coffee with my best friend and he arrived shortly after that.
Once he arrived we went to lunch at my all-time favorite restaurant and then walked around the little town. LaGrange Kentucky is not a very notable place, other than the fact that it is one of the only downtowns that have a train track that runs right down the center. Resulting in some inconveniences when wanting to get from one side of the strip to the other. But I was content with waiting because I love my home so much. Seeing a train always brings a smile to my face.
As we continued walking down the street we would go into various stores and chat with people about their products or coffee. It was a wonderful time to just be together. All the while I learn Travis is putting out fires with various people who were in on the secret. Turns out there was a wreck and his family was going to be cutting it close to when he was supposed to propose.
We then make our way to the railroad museum. Beside the museum sitting on tracks that are no longer in use is an old dining train car and a carrier car. These trains brought back memories of service projects painting them so the public can enjoy them and walking there in high school only to find all the ways to climb on top so we can see as much of the town as possible. What I did not know was this would also be the place where my life changed forever.
We walked around the train tracks completely bypassing the flowers and letters sitting for me. I went straight to the back.
As we walked toward the front I see flowers and a letter sitting there. By this time I had begun noticing that Travis was acting a little weird and as soon as I saw the flowers I knew. I picked them up and he pulled out a box that had been in his pocket the whole time. I was STUNNED. I had no idea what was going on other than my best friend was asking me to marry him and I wanted nothing more. So I said YES!
As our family came running from all corners of the street I began to put the pieces together of the whole day. The last and most amazing surprise was the letter that had been sitting with the flowers. 5 days after we began dating Travis had given me 2 letters. One I was able to open at the time and one I had to wait to open. Because it was only 5 days after we started dating I would have never dreamed that it was a proposal letter, but it was. The letter was a proposal stating that from the first date he knew he what he wanted to do. He knew I was the one. He knew. But that was not all. A secret code was in the first letter. The first letter of every word spelled out “I am going to love you forever. I promise to love you for the rest of your life. Will you marry me?”. I had been reading my own proposal for 9 months and had NO IDEA! (Like I said Travis was scheming the whole time and I had no idea).
We then went out to celebrate with our families and enjoy all the emotions from the day!
This was a day I will never forget. The attention to detail and love I felt on the day still makes me teary.
This is our story and we are thankful for the way the Lord has worked in our lives to bring it together.