Annika’s (sisters) Wedding

David’s Perspective, August 13th of 2022 

Then came a defining moment: Bethany invited me to her sister Annika’s wedding in Wichita, Kansas. At that point, I had already submitted my packet to join the active infantry, and I knew there was no question in my mind—I wanted to see her before I left. So, I flew to Kansas for the wedding as her friend. That weekend, I met her family, and looking back, we both realized that something was slowly changing between us. I remember feeling like I didn’t want to leave.

Bethany’s Perspective

David was always so sweet, and during the years of our friendship, I’d often think to myself, “whoever marries him is going to be one lucky girl.” One morning when he was picking me up, I saw he had bought two coffees one for me and one for him, but I knew David doesn’t like coffee. He had only gotten it to hide the fact that he was really just getting it for me. It was such a sweet, subtle gesture, one of those little things that makes me smile to this day. The foundation of our friendship was built on the same values and principles. Because of that, we never let ourselves consider anything more—we never wanted to risk the bond we had by making it complicated. But as time passed, we both quietly came to the same conclusion: if we didn’t open up about how we were feeling, we could lose the chance to explore something more, and we could lose the friendship in the process.

So, one day, I hinted at David that I had developed feelings for him. Without hesitation, he asked if he could come visit me in Kansas so we could talk about it more. That weekend, he came over, and we spent hours talking— It was a beautiful and vulnerable moment. Two weeks later, David deployed to South Korea. During his deployment, we entered what I’d call our “talking stage.” We asked each other everything we could think of.  Our conversations were filled with excitement, but also a sense of longing, as we prayed for his safe return so we could see each other again. Every conversation, every letter, every moment apart only made us more certain of what we had and wanted.