I met Caden in 8th grade at school, but truly did not talk to him until freshman year of high school. I started getting to know him through mutual friends at school and dance (he did theater at the studio I danced at) over the course of freshman year and by sophomore year I knew I liked him. We had a pretty significant talking stage over sophomore year, up until I realized I wasn’t actually ready for a relationship and was wasting my time and his. So we took a break, and were truly on and off for the rest of high school but stayed pretty close as friends.

Towards the end of senior year, our feelings for each other started to come back up, and we had both grown a lot. We started spending a lot of time together and by our graduation day, it was definitely an elephant in the room. So he took it upon himself to address it that night after his grad party - he told me he loved me, and that if we both came back single after college that we should get married.

Neither of us really knew what to do that summer after we graduated, when we were both leaving for college in a couple of months and he was going out of state. We really tried to bring the Lord into our decisions as well as wise counsel from mentors and friends, and did not think that summer was the time to start dating. So we said goodbye, and went off to college, with a plan to keep each other in the loop solely through letters; no calling or texting.

A month into college, he texted me out of the blue asking if I could call, so of course I said yes. We called later that day, and he told me he was coming home to watch his sister Karis perform in Les Mis in a couple of weeks. We made plans to see each other while he was home, and of course that night after Les Mis he asked me to be his girlfriend. We navigated dating long distance, and the Lord showed up time and time again. The whole time we were dating, we were never both in the same town for longer than two weeks, but our relationship is so much stronger because of it.

After dating mostly long distance for almost two years, he took me on a date to Golden, CO, one of our favorite spots, and got down on one knee. It was an immediate yes from me! We made the decision to wait until I graduate college to get married and are so excited to see where the Lord takes us! We both have a heart for missions and youth ministry and it has been so beautiful to watch our dreams and callings align since before we even started dating. I am so excited for forever with Caden!

Hi, this is Caden and I’m going to tell you my side of this love story! Keep in mind that I am a guy and sometimes I forget when and how things happened. So if you’re reading mine and reading Clara’s, some of the things might not line up. So sit back, relax, and listen to the best love story of all time!!

We met in 8th grade, in our computers class. She sat all the way across the room from me and I didn’t pay her much mind. I know she was the fastest typer in the class which I did find very impressive. And not much happened in that 8th grade year.

We continued on as friends as we enters high school since we were friends with a good amount of the same people, though Clara was still super shy at this point. The story really starts getting good in 10th grade when one of our mutual friends decided it was time for Clara to get out there and talk to boys.

So she devised this plan that involved getting my number from a friend and asking for help on already completed homework in order to get the conversation started with me. After that the rest was history… or was it. As we got closer, we enter into the season we have christened “The Cringe Moment.”

This was our middle school relationship that took place in high school. It involved a lot of FaceTime calls and heart emoji, generally as you can imagine, cringe. This ultimately ended in her breaking it off and breaking my heart.

Not much happened from this point into our senior year minus me asking her to a couple dances and mutual friend hang outs. Fast forward to that senior year, where we were pretty good friends and the spring semester was kinda crazy with me making some stupid decisions and us figuring out where we wanted to go to college.

Zoom in on my grad party where everyone was having a great time, playing games and enjoying themselves. And I was in emotional turmoil about Clara and trying to work through these feelings for her that had bubbled back up. I finally decided to tell her how I felt and I pulled her aside. I stuttered through it and told her I loved her, which she promptly returned and it was pretty great.

But it’s not a happy ending yet since we were going to college some 11 hours away from each other. So we decided so we could focus on building relationships at our respective colleges, we were going to write letters for the first couple months, which is very romantic, I know.

The very next time I was back in Colorado, I ended up asking her to be my girlfriend and we entered into our year and a half long distance relationship. I decided after all that time, to come back to Colorado and deepen our relationship. I finally put a ring on her finger in July and we happily started to plan our wedding!

So yeah, with all the ups and downs and party rocking, that’s the best love story you’ve probably ever heard. (Except for maybe the love story of Jesus🙃)