The Meeting

Well, let’s see. I met Katie officially on August 15th, 2010. But the story starts a little before that. Mr. and Mrs. Iverson have always been very kind to me. I have often been invited to their house for dinners and lunches, birthdays and holidays. So about a week before the 15th, Mr. Iverson called me and wanted to know if I could come to dinner the next Sunday. I, of course, agreed, looking forward to another one of Mrs. Iverson’s wonderful meals.

It was something like Friday or Saturday when Mr. Iverson called me and wanted to know if he could meet with me face to face. I didn’t have very much time that day, but it worked if I went to friendship square right then. So I showed up in my dirty Car-harts and my paint covered T-shirt to meet Mr. Iverson, dressed in his best and surrounded by some hundred NSA students all dressed up for convocation week. I sheepishly said hello, and he pulled me aside and told me that dinner on Sunday wasn’t just an ordinary dinner, that he had in fact gotten a young girl, Katie Travis, and her family to stay an extra day to meet me. They were all in Moscow to drop off Jenni, Katie’s younger sister, for her Sophomore year at NSA. His description of Katie was that, though NSA was tough for her, she persevered through and she was, “pretty good looking, too”. Though the whole meeting, and the thought of being inspected by three people at once was a little nerve wracking, I said that it all sounded great.

That Sunday I went to the Iverson’s and had a wonderful meal. That is when I met the most beautiful girl ever. She was perfect and I got to sit next to her over dinner on the deck, along with some other college age people. I asked a few questions of the group, but didn’t really know how to address Katie. She responded to a few comments and questions, but really didn’t say much. As the afternoon progressed, Katie and her parents and I found ourselves alone in the kitchen where we talked for more than an hour. The only person who talked less than Katie was her mom. But it was a very fun conversation, I actually enjoyed it and didn’t feel inspected or any such that as I had feared. There was a Psalm sing that evening and I wasn’t planning on going. But once I heard that the Travis’s were planning on going, I told them that I would meet them there. That was a good decision. Katie and I got to sing with each other and spend more time together. . . . After the psalm sing was over, I caught Katie as she was about to leave and asked for her email and if I could write her. She said yes and I still have the Cantica Sanctorum with her email written in the back. I made sure that she knew that I wasn’t going to be able to write that week because all the guys in my family were going down to Saint Anthony’s Sand Dunes for a 4-wheeling trip.

As soon as I got back, I wrote Katie, and surprisingly I got a response back the next day and it was long. So, suddenly we were writing 1000–1500 word emails every day. I spent 2–3 hours a night writing, and I loved it, it was the highlight of every day to get her email. Three weeks later, I asked her dad if we could start talking on the phone. He told me that he thought that would be fine. So we started talking on the phone a few times a week and emailing everyday. You know, you can get a lot said in 3000 typed words everyday for 7 weeks . . . . which is when she came to visit again.

Continued in The Courtship