The summer after my senior year of high school, I went on a missions trip to Canada to help the Pelletiers get ready for VBS. I thought it would be just a fun week to sightsee, eat bacon chips, and hang out with my friends. But that week I met Brittany.
We hung out a bit, and we both had a good time. I thought that at the end of the week, I would return home and never meet her again. But she had other plans! We exchanged email addresses, and promises to write every once in a while. I never intended to write more than once or twice, but she was so interesting that I ended up chatting online for hours, wearing a silly grin.
We only talked in person a few more times that summer before I went off to Northland. Once there, we talked on the phone at least once a week. Still, I didn’t think the relationship was too serious. Two things happened to change that, one awful and one awesome. The first was pastor Pelletier getting cancer. Brittany really needed somebody to talk to, and I filled that role. Second, we spent the summer at Castlepoint in California. Even though we only could talk on weekends when we were both exhausted, that summer I grew to love Brittany. One Sunday afternoon, I presented her with a silver and diamond heart necklace and told her that I loved her for the first time.
We have had a long-distance relationship for the majority of our time together. The first two years we were at different colleges(Yeah, I have a girlfriend, she’s in Canada). Even during summers when we were not at camp, we didn’t get to see each other as often as we would have liked. Despite of this, or perhaps because of it, we were able to weather some pretty tough times together. We have a very strong relationship now and cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together.
-Mike Girr
