Many of you may know that we met at a church camp in 2023. Some may even know the name of the camp or even where Heath proposed. But the only ones who know the whole story are none other than us! Ruth and Heath. Where do we even begin…? Camp!

Ruth was on her second summer at Camp Ozark. She worked there the year prior and loved it so much that she just had to go back, although she never even thought she would be leaving there with the man that she would quickly fall in love with and soon call my husband.

I (Heath) was on my first ever summer at a church camp. I got recruited by some crazy circumstances and ended up at Ozark. My mindset going into the summer was to be the best counselor and stay single… I only accomplished one of those goals.

If you ask Ruth, she would say I met her a few days before we went to the lake during the first session of camp. I personally have zero memory of this happening so I like to start the story where I believe I first met Ruth Perry. The bus. I was at the back of the bus talking to a few friends I made from the previous week when I looked up to see the most modest, beautiful woman I had ever seen. I knew I had to meet her. We talked some before the bus took off. I grabbed a seat behind hers while she sat with an 8-year-old girl from her cabin. For the next thirty minutes, the young girl kept making jokes to Ruth about how she and I were going to get married and how she likes me and so on. Kids really do see things differently… well we get back from the lake and the week goes on. Ruth and I kept playing “the eye game” at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The weekend comes around and we get a day off. To our surprise, both of us had a friend named Jordan who invited a group of us to go to Hot Springs. Neither of us knew that we were both invited. I remember walking up to the car Saturday morning opening the passenger back seat door and a huge smile came across my face. Ruth Perry was in the middle seat and we were about to spend a whole day together. Man, what a day that was.

After that day we somehow kept ending up in the same groups, same workplaces, and even at the mailbox at the same time. It was your classic camp crush.

As our friendship grew, so did our feelings. Ruth Perry, the shy more quiet girl that follows the rules, snuck off with me to the Cross at camp. The Cross is at the top of this quarter-mile hike where you can look at the stars. We talked and talked far past midnight. That was the night that I started to learn more about the Godly woman I am marrying in just a few weeks.

Afterward, I asked her on a date. She said yes! Funny enough my parents were at our first date.

Now it is time that I (Ruth) tell my side of the story. Most of Heath’s account was accurate…except that he sat in front of me on the bus, not behind. Before the first date/meet-the-parents combo event, Heath did invite me to a sorta date on camp grounds. I found a mysterious note in my mailbox that invited me to a “salsa dancing class” during staff time for the following night. It was signed by “DOG” which was a nickname that my campers called Heath. As a second-year counselor, I was extremely confused because I had never heard of salsa dancing at Camp Ozark. My curiosity won out, and Heath and I attended a class taught by an international staff member from Columbia. It was a great time, and Heath and I somehow refrained from extensive embarrassment. That led to our official first date outside of camp…

Since Heath did not have a car at camp and none of our friends had the same day off as us, I naturally became his chauffeur for the day. We had planned to go on a date alone until Heath found out his parents were coming up for a weekend visit. It was not the most normal first date, but it was great getting to meet the incredible people who raised such a godly man.

During our two weeks off from camp, Heath and I prayed a lot about our relationship and on our drive back to Camp Ozark, we decided to start dating! Halfway through our road trip we took a pitstop in Mena, Arkansas to get some lunch at Subway. A wonderful woman named Linda saw us sitting at the Subway and she came over and talked to us and prayed over our relationship which was an encouraging start to our journey.

Since then, there have been lots of trips back and forth between Baylor and A&M, climbing and camping trips, and lots of memories! We are so excited to share this story with you all, and we look forward to celebrating with everyone! If you made it to the very end of this long story…thank you for taking the time to read it. I know it is quite long.

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