our 1st photo together. we'd obviously hit it off.
He says :
How We Met
I can still remember the first time I met Whitney. Our stories are different, so I guess I will tell my side because it is the one I know best. I had been to northeastern Haiti once, and I really wanted to return. The first trip was with a group in Waco called Cross Cultural Experiences, and they led annual “Exposure Trips” to different parts of the world. I went to India for a month on one of these trips as well.
I remember sitting at the World Cup Café – one of my favorite local eateries in Waco – with my friend David Philpott. Jimmy Dorrell stopped by, and the two of them were discussing their upcoming trip to Haiti. Knowing that they were leaving in just a few days, I facetiously asked Jimmy if he had any other spots available for me to join them. He laughed, and said he’d let me know if anyone cancelled.
This comes directly from a journal I kept while travelling…
“Two days ago, I got a phone call from Jimmy Dorrell explaining that someone had indeed cancelled on their trip to Haiti, and he wanted to know if I would like to come. They left in two days, he said, and he would need to know in the next few hours. Long story short, I am now sitting on a rooftop in the town of Ferrier, Haiti, still trying to understand how I got here.”
I’m grateful to my parents, my professors at the time, and Teri Holtkamp for helping me find the time and resources to leave on such a short notice! Who would have thought that I would meet my wife on this trip?!
Anyway, everyone on the trip met at DFW to catch a flight to Miami, and I remember seeing Whitney for the first time at the airport there. We officially met and shook hands on the flight to Miami. She sat in the row behind me, and I thought it was cool that she actually brought pictures of her family to show everyone (this was on the packing list, but I didn’t think people would actually do this). She had gone up early to stay with another girl on the trip who lived in the DFW area. I remember her smile, her very distinct laugh, and the way she seemed to make everyone feel like they were valued. I’ll spare you all the lovey dovey details, and let you know that our relationship started within a prayerful community of others, spending time with the poor, and joined in our love of the Haitian people. And I hope it always stays that way.
This also comes from my travel journal…
“I met this wonderful girl in an airport on the way to Haiti. Her name is Whitney. And I can tell she really loves Jesus.”
I remember buying a Surfing magazine too, and reading it in front of her, just so she would think I was cooler than I actually am. I think it worked.
Our 1st Official Date and Our First Dance – Waco, TX
Last time I spoke with Teri Holtkamp, she still claimed to tell this story to her friends. This is actually a really fun story for me. Earlier in the day, I got my second tattoo at Dream Connections by my favorite artist, aka Angry Johnny. Daniel Patino and I had planed to go together, but he couldn't at the last minute, and so it was just me and Angry Johnny. I got the tattoo just minutes before going to pick up Whitney for our date.
The events of the night were supposed to be a surprise, even though I think she secretly knew where we were going. We arrived and danced the night away, as the youngest couple to ever attend the Young at Heart Senior Prom – an event held periodically at a local senior citizens club. We shared food with Bob and Mary. They asked us if we were dating. “We’re just friends,” I said hesitantly. We learned how to dance the waltz together, alongside the prom king and queen, who had a combined age of 195. Partway through the night, I winced as my fresh tattoo rubbed against my shirt while we danced. I told Whitney about it and she laughed. I was nervous that she wouldn't like tattoos and think I was weird or something.
We left the dance to take Whitney back to her house. The place next door had just been built. No one had moved into it yet, so we went and sat on the porch and talked. I smoothly asked her what she thought about when Bob and Mary asked if we were dating. I hope to one day find them and let them know how significant their question was in our lives. I think she said she didn't know, and then asked me what I thought. “I would have liked to have said yes,” I squeezed out. She smiled and put her head on my shoulder.
I went home to tell David just before we went to bed, “So, I think I have a girlfriend.” He called me a sellout. We went to sleep.
She says:
Just to clarify, I'd like the record to show that while our night at the Senior Prom will probably go down as our #1 date, it was but one of many, prior to that most youthful evening. Stephen would like to think he had me our 1st real date, but come on, what kind of girl does he think I am?
He had me at 'So, that's your family, huh?' as I showed off my photos on the plane months earlier. He's got a thing for one-liners.
Fast forward: we spent the next summer acting as if the fall would never come. Stephen was to head off for a year of living communally in Atlanta and I had one year left at Ole BU. Thanks to a few generous gifts of flight (thanks MJ's) and the USPS (I think we both asked for stamps that Christmas.), we managed to find ourselves with a sweet little something.
But distance was an unrelenting ghost in our house. An ocean between us, a graduate education, a year split between the Liberty Bell and the Inner Harbor, lots of overcharged cell phone bills (sorry Mom), and mounds of deliberation later, we found ourselves more at peace with where we were in life (ahhh, to be audaciously young -yes! and already in love?? - yes yes!) and more excited about where we were headed - to the center of the known universe, Ferrier, Haiti; only this time we were working as employees on a project completely unrelated to our first shared experience in Haiti. This of course made it all the more unbelievable for me. My excitement of returning to this mesmerizing land was rivaled only by my excitement to finally share the same zip code as Stephen once more.
We spent the next five months
But not before getting engaged, of course.
And three years and three months to the day after living it up with the crowned glory of the Waco citizenry at the Young at Heart Senior Prom, we'll hold our own little hoe down and celebrate the gift and mystery of friendship, love, and cake.
We're so honored that you'll be apart of our marriage; on our wedding day and the many days to follow.
