It’s a classic tale of mother knows best…

july 2015

Kaelyn was attending the birthday party of her soon-to-be roommate, Caroline,
and because she knew about as many people as she could count on one hand,
she found herself making conversation with friendly strangers.

One of the strangers happened to be Tanner’s mother, Merridy, and after about 15 minutes of conversation, Merridy said, “You need to meet my son.” And promptly texted Tanner: “I met a girl for you!”

Kaelyn’s first thought was, “Is her son incapable of meeting a girl himself?” And,
upon learning more about this so-called incredible, smart and dashing guy, “Really, what’s the catch?”

Meanwhile, Tanner receives a text from his mom late on Saturday: “I met a girl for you!” Cringing, he replies, “Great” and makes a mental note to never address it.

After changing the subject, Kaelyn snuck away to a new group of strangers. One convo led to the next and soon Kaelyn was discussing being single with someone named Morgan — Tanner’s younger sister. It was only after a few minutes that she, too, insisted Kaelyn meet her brother, and unaware her mom had already reached out to Tanner, texted him. 

By now, two of the three women in this mystery man Tanner’s life told Kaelyn she
had to meet Tanner. She was skeptical.

three weeks later

Kaelyn receives a text: “Hey, this is Tanner Scott. I figured I’d get rid of the middlemen. What are you doing tonight?” (Tanner admittedly had only texted
Kaelyn to get his family off his back.)

They didn’t meet up that night, but Kaelyn agreed to go on a date the following week.

Their first date was a Cubs game. Bleacher seats. Apparently Kyle Schwarber hit
a grand slam but neither Kaelyn nor Tanner would’ve been able to tell you that, as they were too busy looking at one another, deep in conversation.

The rest, as they say, is history.

the epilogue

What neither Tanner nor Kaelyn knew until after they were engaged was that Caroline had, quite possibly, the biggest role: Caroline had planted seeds in June 2015, so when Kaelyn was “making conversation with friendly strangers,” in reality, she was passing the most important test of her life.

Caroline’s a mastermind. She’s also our officiant.