Day 4 - Matt Wyatt, 30, Father

Image from Flickr by Wintersoul1

       Matt Wyatt fell in love with his wife Rachel about a week after her family moved down the street. They were in the same class, although he was four months older. It took him several years to get up the courage to tell her how he felt. In the meantime, he was content to hang out around her, to be her buddy, her best friend, to know that he was the first person she turned to when she hd something to celebrate or cry over.

       One reason it took so long for Matt to let Rachel know how he felt was the difference between their families' religions. Matt's family were Lutherans and his grandfather had been a Lutheran pastor. Rachel's family were Italian and that meant, of course, that they were Catholic. His parents and Rachel's parents had become friends, but Matt had overheard his mother talking with her friends at church, so he knew she expected him to find a nice Lutheran girl to marry. So when he reached high school, he looked around at the Lutheran girls at his church, at neighboring churches, and at summer camp. Even if he had found a nice Lutheran girl, his shyness would probably have kept him from acting.

       As graduation approached, Matt began making plans to go away to college and Rachel made plans to spend the summer after graduation in Italy, to visit relatives, before beginning her search for a job. Her parents didn't expect Rachel to go to college. They hoped she would find a nice Catholic boy to marry and they didn't consider college a requirement.

       A month before graduation, Matt began to worry that Rachel would return from Italy changed. He already knew how easily she made friends and he began to fear that she just might meet that nice Catholic boy over there. So he clumsily asked Rachel to go out with him on a date, not just as best friends or buddies. Rachel's response was to laugh, but in the best possible way. She asked why it had taken him so long.

       After that first date, Matt and Rachel were inseparable, until the time came for Rachel to leave for her Italian adventure. She promised him she would come back to him before he had to leave for college. And he promised her he wouldn't have any fun until she returned. Since he would be working for his uncle's construction company that summer, to earn money for tuition, he knew he could keep hmself very busy.

       In late August, Rachel returned and Matt asked her to marry him on their first evening together. They agreed to wait until Matt completed his degree. They also agreed to wait to tell their parents, at least until Matt had completed his first semester.