Sunday, May 15th, 2016, I woke up exhausted and decided to sleep in an extra few minutes. I then got up and got ready for the day, and my family went to church. All through the music I was distracted thinking about the day ahead. I was going through very brief phases of extreme excitement and extreme nervousness. It was back and forth constantly. After church we went home, and my two sisters started packing everything up. My brother Joel and I went to go get balloons and roses, which were part of the event. We got the balloons first from Party City, and on the way out Joel was really concerned that I was going to let go of the balloons and lose them. I pretended to lose them for a second and he was horrified, which was really funny. We then went together and grabbed a bouquet of roses, and then got gas and went home.
When we arrived home, my grandparents and aunt had arrived. They were all there packing frantically with everyone else. We spent some time making sure that we had everything, and then Grandma, Papa, Aunt Cathy and Mom got in one van and headed out, and then my siblings and I headed out shortly after in Mom's van.
Lakeshore Camp was our destination. Jenna, my girlfriend, was there training a new girl for an office position. Julia, the camp director, had been informed of my plan and had texted me to confirm that Jenna was inside a building, away from the camp entrance. With that confirmation, we drove in. But first, seeing as my sister Elaina and I were in the front seat, we put on sunglasses and funny hats. The office has a good view of the camp entrance, so we had to make sure that if Jenna was looking that way, she wouldn't recognize us. Fortunately she didn't see us, so we pulled in in front of our camp home.
Once we got inside, I started divvying up all the materials and whatnot. I had printed out sheets for everyone of what they were supposed to do at their various stations, and I made sure that everyone had what they needed. Cousin Sharon and John saw us arriving so they came in to see what was going on, and they ended up helping too. Once everyone knew their jobs, everyone got to work.
After setting things up for a while, we all came back and had sandwiches and just chilled for a few minutes. Then I got the text from Julia saying that Jenna had left the grounds to go have dinner with her best friend Ashley as per the plan, and we got back to work. I went to the office first to talk to Julia, and I was going to start setting up the office but I got a text from Shawn (the guy I'd got to be the photographer) saying he wanted to make sure the spot where I had asked him to wait was good. I went over to the fire pit and talked with Shawn for a few minutes, making sure everything was fine over there. I then went back to the office to do some final preparations. I left Melina - another friend of Jenna's - with instructions on what to do with the giant box we had put in the office. I finally got to the barn, where a good number of people had shown up. They were setting up the barn and it looked really nice. I made a quick announcement to thank everyone for coming, and then I went out to wait for Jenna.
It was colder than I had thought it was going to be. It was supposed to be sunny and warm, but it was cloudy and a bit chilly. Anyway, I had set up a blanket to stand on with candles on the four corners, but they blew out from the wind pretty quickly. Jenna was supposed to be back around 8, but a giant train had pulled in front of the camp's entrance and was just crawling by at an unbearably slow pace. I sat next to where Shawn had hidden himself and talked with him for a little bit.
Meanwhile, Jenna was waiting behind the train to get into the camp. While she had been out at dinner with Ashley, Ashley had given her a note from me that said:
Hey Jenna. It's me.
Do you remember the question you asked me when we started dating? We were sitting in the board room, feeling nervous and excited and wondering about how this was all gonna go down. And you asked me something that day. You asked me what my intentions were with our relationship. What I was looking for.
Well, I answered that question, and today I have a question for you. But I'm not gonna ask it on paper, or by text, or by skywriter because that's way too expensive. I'm going to ask you face to face. But in order to do that, you need to find my face. So if it's not too much trouble, please drive to that place where you and I once tried washing your car in the dark. When you get there, look for a sign.
I love you.
When she finally pulled into the office's parking lot, she eventually spotted a note on the door that said:
Hey Jenna! It's me.
Do you remember that time where you made a trail of Post-It notes for me to follow, with a surprise gift at the end? Well, as original as I am, sometimes I think you have genuinely good ideas and decide to go with them. Because today, you're going on a Post-It note hunt, and there's a very special surprise for you at the end. This building is a very special place for both of us, isn't it? It's where our story started. There are nineteen post-it notes for you to find, and once you have them all, you can open the door to the Registrar's Office. Believe me, none of this will work if you don't find all nineteen clues first. Just trust me on that one. Once you finish, behind that door will be someone who has a very important question for you. The first Post-It note is where we keep those articles of clothing that you and I stole all the time last summer.
Good luck. I love you.
At this point, Jenna was convinced that she was about to be proposed to in the Camp office, which was a thought she wasn't particularly crazy about. Sure, it was where we had first met, but it wasn't a very romantic looking location. So as she went into the office and found all the post-it notes, she tried to get herself in the right head-space.
"This is very sweet of him," she told herself. She was excited to get engaged, but...here?
Finally, she made it to the registrar's office door. There was a very large cardboard box that had been taped and locked up. She had gotten the key from one of the earlier post-it notes, so she opened it up after reading the note on the box that said "Hey Jenna. Great job on the post-it note trail. Someone in this box has a very special question to ask you. I hope you have the key to set them free. They can't wait to see you." Of course I wasn't inside; Melina was. This was a very welcome surprise for Jenna. Melina popped out and gave Jenna the next clue, which said:
Hey Jenna!
Clever, eh? I bet you didn't think Melina was going to be in this box. You've done a great job, but this isn't the end of the adventure you're on. It's only the beginning.
You have two options. Your first option is to go back to your car and drive home, but I strongly advise against this option because you'll really miss out on some cool stuff. Your second option is the one that's gonna lead to wedding bells ringing, so that's the one I'd advise. And speaking of bells, that happens to be where the next part of your adventure is located.
I love you.
At this point I had gone into the Barn to warm up a little bit, but Eric - Melina's fiance - showed me a video that Melina had sent him of Jenna finding Melina in the box. She looked really happy. I went back outside at that point, and stood in my spot for probably half an hour, just waiting. It was really cold so I kept shaking myself every now and then. I stared at the spot where Jenna was supposed to come from. I practiced getting down on one knee a few times.
Melina and Jenna headed to the Tabernacle, the central building at the camp which is famous for the 80 year old bell within. In the Tabernacle, the Ed Sheeran song "I Was Made For Loving You" that Jenna and I danced to one time was playing. Jenna found a clue in the Tabernacle next to the Bell with a bouquet of roses, a Hershey's Kiss, and a puzzle piece. Up ahead was the stage, and the only way up to it was down the centre aisle.
Hey Jenna.
You've been working hard, so enjoy a kiss from me to keep your spirits up. I think this building says a lot about our relationship. This is the heart of the camp because it's the main place where people encounter God every summer. God has always been a super-important part of our lives, and we're gonna need Him if we're gonna make our relationship everything it needs to be. Church is a big part of that; we need people around us to build us up and keep us going. You're always going to be the most important person in my life. That's why I want church to remain a huge part of our relationship. Our friends will point us to Christ when we go through bad stuff, and hey, I wouldn't have been able to pull off any of tonight without godly friends.
See those roses? Like our relationship, they're beautiful and a terrific symbol of love. Also, they can't stay here by themselves. They need something to support them, something to lean on, and something to surround them with care. For us, that's gonna be God and the people He's put in our lives. For these roses, it's that vase down at the altar. Would you mind taking them over there for me?
She had to take the flowers and place them in the vase, where the next clue was. As she walked down the aisle, there were candles all the way down both sides of the aisle on the floor for her to walk past. Next to the vase was an envelope, and inside of it was a phone number. When she called the phone number, Elaina answered and said something along the lines of "Roses are red, violets are blue. But your next location is not of that hue. Your future is close, but yet to be seen. Perhaps you should look for a room that is green."
Jenna and Melina went to the Green Room, a room in the Tabernacle, where there were a bunch of pictures around the room of Jenna and I, and in front of each picture was a little handful of puzzle pieces. There was a clue in an envelope too.
Hey Jenna.
This is where we watched Breakfast at Tiffany's together. Do you remember that? Most of the time we watched movies at the Barn, but this day was different because we had meringues as well. I've got some other fun memories here for you to look at. Each one is really special to me, and the puzzle pieces will tell you why. Do you still have that puzzle piece I gave you earlier? I hope so, 'cause you're gonna need it.
I love you.
When she assembled the puzzle, it was a treasure map leading to the beach. On the map, it said, "Here be the map to the treasure of Captain Werenich. All his most valuable loot be buried here, save for the woman he loves."
Jenna and Melina then went to the beach, where she found a big X made of stones on the sand and two shovels stabbed in the ground. She had to dig up the treasure, and found a treasure chest filled with sentimental objects from our relationship. There was also a note that said:
Hey Jenna.
All of these things are so important to me because they remind me of you, and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Some of these are gifts from you, some of them are the results of lost bets, and some of them are just fun memories of the two of us. The reason I value these so much is because you are what I treasure. You're what my heart lingers on. You're what I want to think about every minute of every day.
There's something else for you here at the beach, but you won't find it in this box. You'll find it nestled amidst the rocks by the water, and it's a very important message.
I love you.
Nestled in the rocks by the water was a corked bottle with a message inside. The message was an edited excerpt from my journal about the time we first said I love you to each other, as well as the following clue:
Do you remember where our first kiss was, about four months before the day we told each other that we loved each other?
She went to the Lakeside Benches next. These were two benches by the water, about a minute's walk from the beach. At this point Melina made an excuse to leave. There were a bunch of different coloured floating balloons with the words "Pop me" on them. A clue read:
Hey Jenna.
Do you remember sitting by the lake that one night when we had figured out that the glimmering reflection of the moon on the water was actually a moon-bridge? Or the day in late August when we sat on these benches and I asked you a question that only had four words in it? Well, I have another four-worded question to ask you, and you're almost there. It's just that you'll need to pop these balloons before I can pop the question.
Inside most of the balloons is something that I'm really looking forward to in our relationship. I can't wait to experience those things with you. However, only one balloon has the next clue, and that's the only balloon that will take us closer to that future together. I hope you find it.
I love you.
After popping the balloons enough, she found the right one, which read:
Hey Jenna.
Congrats on popping the right balloon. If you haven't popped all the other balloons yet, feel free to take a second and do that before you follow this clue.
The next place I want you to visit is - in my opinion - one of the prettiest places in the camp. It's one of the places where you and I put on a great party. We're really good at doing that together. It's also the building you almost burned down that one time.
I love you.
She made her way to the Draffin Inn, a house-like cabin on the water. It was decorated to look like Christmas, with lights wrapped around the banister, a Christmas tree, music playing softly, a cup of milk and some cookies laid out for her, a roaring fireplace on the TV, and a big present underneath the tree. After drinking the milk she opened the present, which had a lot of layers and a note on each one. After finally getting to the bottom, she found a DVD. She put it in the TV, and it played a video of me saying some things and telling her to go to the Fire Pit.
This whole time I had been standing on the blanket, waiting for her. I was really cold, but the moment I spotted her I forgot about all of that. She walked all the way over to me, and stepped onto the blanket, smiling. I took her hands and there was this brief and beautiful moment where we looked into each other's eyes without saying anything. We both knew what was about to happen. Both of us started crying a little bit. I couldn't help it.
"Jenna," I said, holding her hands. "I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So..." I said, getting down on one knee. I pulled the ring out from my back pocket and opened it up for her. "Will you marry me?" I asked.
"Yes," came her reply, and then our lips met as I rose to my feet.
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Matthew and Jenna are now happily married and living in Whitby. To support Matthew's writing, click here to check out some of his projects.