Kootenai Falls Engagement: Tyler & Kassandra
They met at the gym. Tyler is a trainer (an excellent one at that) and if I remember right she had joined his gym and he was giving some instruction. He had asked for someone to be an example, and no one volunteered - except Kassandra. This was how they met, but it took time for them to grow a friendship - always at the gym. They would talk together, joke around, often stretching or doing certain things around the same time. They became friends. Over the course of time, each one of them would get out of their respective relationships and one day Kassandra was lamenting about wanting to go on a hike, and Tyler said "well, let's go" So they did.
This hike was a big deal and sticks out in both of their minds. Up until then, they hadn't hung out outside of the gym, and they had an incredible time. They talked the whole hike, and when they got back to their cars they stood outside and continued to talk for several hours. They just didn't want to leave. Over the next couple weeks (if I remember the story correctly) they would talk a lot, and hang out. Kassandra and Tyler were really starting to like each other.
So Tyler broke it off.
Yeah. It didn't make much sense to me (or Kassandra, for that matter). From what I remember, Tyler wasn't ready to get into another relationship, and so he told her he couldn't do that. So they spent some time apart, talking less, but Kassandra (who still really liked Tyler) couldn't take it so she decided she was going to leave, and she got a job on the other side of the country working for the CDC. It was just after she got the job and was getting ready to leave that Tyler started talking to her again. And when it came time for her to leave, he showed up to a gig she had (she was/is in a band) with a host of incredibly thoughtful gifts, kind gifts that showed on thing: I really like you.
The day before she left.
What did Kassandra get him? Some socks (she was trying to forget him). So the day she left is the day they started talking again. They would text a lot, talk often, and eventually Kassandra would ask Tyler "what are we". Because it was too hard on her to be talking to this amazing guy, and yet not know what they were relationally. In the end, she came back to visit over the holiday and Tyler would meet her. When she got to his house he would have flowers all over the floor and an incredibly thoughtful letter telling her how he was in, and he wanted to be with her.
Kassandra cried.
And now, they are taking it further, they are saying they want to be with each other forever. Not just today, not just tomorrow, but for the rest of their lives. What an incredible couple, and what an honor it was for me to travel with them, camp with them, and get some photos at a place that is normally much too far to make something like that happen. I can't wait to be there when these two commit to the rest of their lives. It will be amazing.
