Caitlin and Brandon

I love this pic Caitlin :)


It was Sunday, August 29, 2010. The second Sunday after Kandace,
Mary, and I moved to Cedar for college. It started off as a normal
morning. The three of us getting all dolled up for 9:00 church. After
all, we needed to impress the guys! We walked to church with the guys
who lived by us, Tristan and Aaron. We hadn't really spent a ton of
time getting to know them. Just walking to and from church. They were
kinda nerdy. :) Anyways, we go to church, had Sacrament meeting, then
went to Sunday school. And for whatever reason, Kandace, Mary, and I
are the goobers that we are and fought over who had to decide where we
were going to sit. Mary lost that battle as she did most battles. >:)
So she ended up sitting next to this cute guy named Brandon. Well she
talks to him a little bit. A lot of dead end conversations. Anyways,
Sunday school gets over and Tristan and Aaron come up and ask us if we
want to go hiking after church. Of course we said yes. And Tristan
invited Brandon. I don't remember if I was the only sinner with my
phone at church or if I was just pathetic enough to be the first to
volunteer, but I got Brandon's number so we could let him know what
the plans were after church. He and I talked a little bit, then went
our seperate ways for Relief Society and Elders Quorum. After church
we walked out in front of him, and didn't know. And of course I say,
well he's cute! Who knows if he heard me. But I was embarrassed all
the same! So we get home, change, eat lunch, and meet up to go on our
hike. My roommates knew that I had a thing for Brandon so they let me
sit by him in the car and kept pushing for us to talk on the hike. So
basically, we hiked, it was fun. Brandon seemed more interested in
Kandace. He talked to her most of the time and she kept ditching him
so he would talk to me. He later told me he thought she was shady.
Well we finished hiking and got back in the cars to go home. Of
course I sat by him again. Mary made us all dinner so we hung out for
the rest of the night. Well the details are fuzzy, but I think it was
the next day... Brandon and I were texting and I invited him over to
come hang out. Little did I know my roommates were both leaving. So
he and I hung out by ourselves. And let me tell you, I was nervous
out of my mind. I was still shy around him. He probably thought I
was such a goober... Anyways, we ended up hanging out everyday after I
got done with class and got super close. I didn't stay shy around him
too long. That ended the day we played Slap Jack and I was so mad
cause I couldn't win and I hate losing!!! Well my feelings didn't
change and one day, I don't remember how it came up we were texting
and we talked about how I liked him. He told me he didn't want to get
attached to anyone before he left on his mission. So we were friends.
Well I started dating, and he started dating my roommate. Long story
short, my boyfriend Mike broke up with me and Brandon and my roommate
Kandace broke up about the same time. Mike and Kandace got close and
so did Brandon and I. Brandon and I got to the point in our
friendship where we flirted like crazy and spent just about every
waking moment together. So one night, he was at my apartment and he
was feeling crappy cause his kidney was bugging him. So I was giving
him a massage and we were talking. Well it got late and time for him
to go home. I was super worried, but he assured me he would be fine.
I told him, just like I did every other night, to text me when he got
home. He was living with his brother and sister-in-law and they had
been moving that week from an apartment to a house just a little ways
down the street. Well he texted me and said he forgot his key to the
house, so he was going to go sleep on the floor of the apartment,
without pillows or blankets, or any source of warmth at all. So I
told him, whether he liked it or not, we were coming to get him, and
he was going to sleep in our front room on a mattress. He tried to
argue with me, but I ignored his texts and we just showed up at his
apartment. He still tried to argue with me, but I told him I wasn't
leaving unless he did so he gave in and came back to my apartment with
us. We got his bed all set up, asked if he needed anything, I
massaged his back for a while till he seemed like he was going to
sleep, then I told him good night and that I'd see him in the morning.
Taking care of him gave me the weirdest feeling.... I don't know how
to describe it. I felt like it was right. That I was the one who
should take care of him. This scared me. I didn't need any feelings
for him coming back. He had his mission call, he was leaving. So I
pushed the feelings away. I went to bed and woke up the next morning
to walk out to him sleeping. Once again, I got this feeling of, "I
like seeing him first thing in the morning. It makes me happy." I
pushed it out of my mind. I wasn't about to do this to myself.
Anyways, time passed and things were great. He was my best friend.
Then, one Thursday night, we were playing Capture the Flag. I was
super upset cause Kandace and Mike wouldn't stop flirting and play the
game, and I hate losing. Well, it was cold, I wasn't wearing a jacket
(cause I was hot from running. I didn't need one.) and as I was
walking back to the middle of our playing field, I got a stabbing pain
in my lower back and then my legs went numb. I tried to take another
step but couldn't. All I could do to make the pain go away was bend
over forward. Brandon looked over at me and I just said, you need to
come over here. Something is wrong. He got to me and I just lost it.
I started sobbing. I was scared, I didn't know what was wrong, all I
knew was that I couldn't walk or move. I told Brandon the best I
could what was wrong. So he picked me up and carried me to my
friends' apartment cause it was closer than mine. I laid on the couch
while they tried to figure out what to do. I was so confused. I
didn't really know what was going on around me. All I knew that
Brandon was next to me the whole time. The guys gave me a blessing
and then someone said, take her to the emergency room. So Brandon
picked me up again and took me to the car. I think at this point I
was in shock. I was shaking uncontrollably, having a hard time
breathing, sobbing, and couldn't focus on anything. We got to the ER,
sat there for a few hours (Brandon stayed with me the whole time,
except when I was getting x-rays) and then went home. The doctor
couldn't see anything wrong, and I could walk, not comfortably, but at
least I could move my legs without having a panic attack. He gave me
Lortab, which apparently makes me super tired and a tad incoherent. I
didn't want to sleep in my room alone, so my friends brought my
mattress to the front room and my roommate and friend Alyssa stayed
out there with me. They gave me my medicine and I kinda fell asleep.
That stage of sleep where you are asleep but aware of what's going on
around you. Brandon, Mary, and Alyssa talked while I slept. I can't
remember what they talked about, but I remember Brandon saying how
scared he was when I called him over and then they laughed about my
drug induced state. I remember them all leaving, and Kandace coming
home, but nothing after that. I woke up in the morning and was
talking to Mary and Alyssa. Mary told me that Brandon was afraid he
was starting to like me. After they had left the apartment the night
before, they all talked some more. He told her that he felt like he
needed to take care of me when I got hurt. He didn't think, he just
had to do something. It sounded similar to what I had thought about
him just a few weeks before. Anyways, I was so sore, and for the next
few weeks had to sit and do nothing cause I hurt so bad. And each
time, Brandon was there. Ready to do whatever I needed him to do.
Get me medicine, my ice pack, give me a massage. He was so amazing.
And I loved having him take care of me. Well, one day I was coming
home from class and he met up with me (cause he knew I was done for
the day and was coming to come hang out. Just like every other day.
:) ). Right as I was about to open my apartment door he said "Wait!
So... Do you want to go on a date with me?" and I giggled. Yah,
giggled, and said "Sure." Then we went in my apartment. It is so
funny to think about it now. It wasn't awkward even though the
situation should have been! Anyways, the next day we went to dinner
and a movie. I had so much fun! We were getting back around 8ish and
were going to hang out with our group of friends afterwards. We
thought it would be so funny to walk in holding hands (One of my
friends had warned me before that going on a date was a bad idea. It
would make the group awkward cause at this point Mike and Kandace were
dating, the last thing the group needed was me and Brandon dating.).
Anyways, we thought it'd be funny to try to get a reaction out of
everyone. I was thinking, oh my gosh, this is going to be so awkward!
I can't hold Brandon's hand!! So we went in, gave it a little while
and then rested my head on his shoulder. Then he put my arm around
me. Slowly we got to holding hands, the whole time our friends
looking at each other like, "What the heck is going on!?" We told
them we were just kidding at the end of the night, but after he went
home I asked him if it was weird for him. He told me it wasn't, that
he felt like it was so natural for that to happen to us. I was glad
he said that because I agreed. At this point I'm thinking, "Oh crap!
So much for not falling for him!!" I went to bed thinking about him
and smiling. The next day, we went for a walk and were talking and he
said, "I wish I was back from my mission. That would make all of this
so much easier." And I said, "Your timing sucks bud. I liked you
forever ago. If you had liked me then, we would have had more time
together." At which point he decides to tell me that he liked me
then. He really was scared about getting too attached to me and then
having to leave. So we decide that we like each other, but nothing is
going to happen cause he was leaving soon. So we go on being friends.
Friends who occasionally held hands under a blanket while the group
was watching a movie, and who fell asleep texting each other. One
night, (I remember the date for this one! :) ) we decided to go lay
outside and look at the stars. We had a super deep conversation and
we were just talking and he said, "What if I was home from my mission
and I asked you, right now, to marry me. What would you say?" I laid
there for a minute thinking about it. He was my best friend, and I
knew I liked him. I just didn't know how much I liked him. As I
thought about it, this feeling came over me that it was right. This
whole thing with him. It was just right. He made sense. He was
everything I always knew I wanted, and so much more that only Heavenly
Father could've known that I NEEDED. I told him that if that were the
case, I would tell him yes. Yes, I would marry him. And then, I
couldn't stop smiling. And he couldn't stop smiling. And he asked if
he could kiss me. And I told him he could. So our first kiss was
while we were lying in the grass looking at the stars. He always
tells me that he never imagined that fireworks really started going
off during kisses, but that first kiss was fireworks for him. I just
stopped breathing. So that was that. We spent every moment with each
other that we possibly could and fell so in love. I met his family
and they are amazing and I know that I am going to fit right in! One
night he and I were in my apartment lying on the love sac and just
looking at each other. We did this most nights. We'd talk, he'd
tickle me, we'd wrestle, we'd lay there and look at each other, I
would start to fall asleep, he would brush my bangs from my face, or
rub my back, or occasionally just touch my arm, face, neck, or hands.
On this particular night he told me he wanted to marry me. And then
we were talking about when we would want to get married. And set the
date July 12, 2013. 3 days after my 21st birthday. :) One night,
Brandon and I got to talking. It was a conversation talking about our
pasts. He told me how he got his patriarchal blessing when he was 14.
In it, it told him to pray for his future spouse, because she needed
him. So he did. Well, at this time, I was, for a lack of better words,
boycotting the gospel. My sister had been sick for 11 years. She was
on dialysis because her kidneys had to be removed. We were waiting to
find a donor. I couldn't understand how Heavenly Father could do this
to us. Do this to me. I had to fill in for my mom. I had to be strong
for my younger siblings. After 11 years, I'd had enough of being
strong, and lost all faith. I blamed my Heavenly Father. I stopped
praying, because He wouldn't help anyways. Well, one day was
particularly bad. Out of no where, I just felt peace. I felt like
everything would be okay. I was so overcome with the spirit. I felt my
Savior's arms embrace me and hold me. Years later, Brandon told me
since he was 14, he prayed for his future spouse, a lot of memories
came into my mind. But this one more than any other. I started to cry,
feeling the arms of my Savior around me again. I cried, because I
knew, with everything inside me, that day, I felt the peace and
comfort I did, because of a prayer of a 14 year old boy. Brandon had
been praying for his future wife since he was 14. Since he was 14, I
knew at that moment he had been praying for me. I smiled at Brandon
and knew he knew the same thing. All those years he'd been praying for
me. I then pulled out my patriarchal blessing. I cried when I read the
words I now knew were talking about Brandon. That my Heavenly Father
was preparing a wonderful man for me. That he would be a great and
courageous priesthood holder. And a great and courageous priesthood
holder Brandon is. We blissfully spent the last couple weeks before he
left. He hadn't told me he loved me yet because he was waiting for
the perfect moment. On Sunday, April 3, he came to watch the second
session of conference with us and say his goodbyes, as he was getting
set apart the next morning and leaving for Provo so he could finish up
with a few things before going into the MTC that Wednesday. Anyways,
as he and I were saying goodbye, I of course started crying. He just
held me and reminded me he wasn't going to be gone forever. Then he
said, I don't know if this is the perfect moment, but he wanted to say
it before he left. He told me he loved me. All I could do was hug
him and tell him it was the best moment. The last thing he said to me
before he left was I love you. And that's my story. :)