GAVIN

At this time in the story, it is appropriate to bring in Gavin, her rock, her support, the love of her life. Gavin and Emily met at Premiere at SPU. Gavin remembers looking around the room asking himself, "Is the woman I will marry here?" Sophomore year Gavin and Emily started becoming better friends, being on brother/sister floors. On her birthday Gavin and Lynn filled her room with balloons, and Gavin wrote lyrics for her using the tune, "Story of a Girl". Junior year Emily was on the Constitutional Review committee with Gavin. She would continually complain that, when Gavin asked for input from everyone, he would always start with the person seated on his left. Emily was always on his right. Afterwards they would head to Gwin together and catch up. However, it seemed that the two were destined to continually stay in "just friends" mode.

Spring break of Emily's senior year she had a long talk with Jessica about Gavin and how she knew they would never be more than friends. That didn't last very long. Gavin and Emily soon had a long talk where they decided to take a new step. Gavin participated in a softball game the very next day and was walking on air. He wasn't sure if, after a night to think about it, Emily would go back on what they had talked about. As he was playing he saw Emily and Bekah walking by. Emily caught his eye, and her face lit up. That night, after a long talk at a Barnes & Noble, Gavin and Emily walked slowly back to her house. Gavin wasn't sure what to do, so, just like everything else in her life, Emily jumped on in and gave Gavin a huge hug.

Cliff got a phone call about Gavin. Emily said that she had always liked him, but he was too tall, and she had felt that the height difference would never work. However, at the end of college, she knew that of all the people she had met, she liked him the most. She even sent the family an email with a picture of Gavin. Mom thought he looked like a drug dealer.

Emily and Gavin had a wonderful relationship. Any time Gavin would get down on himself, Emily would have nothing of it. She cared about him so much, and wanted Gavin to know her better so badly, showing him all over her hometown of Portland. Emily's eyes shone around Gavin. Her face brightened, her countenance shone. It truly was a picture of love as God intended it; two people serving one another in love and humility.

Emily happily agreed to marry Gavin, and thus gained a new family, including a brother and sister that immediately loved her as well and she loved them right back. You just knew that she cared for you as soon as you met her. She, along with Colin's wife, Jennifer, was able to corral the two twins as they would go off on some inane tangent.

For anyone who was there, you understand how beautiful a day their wedding was. God was present there, and an attitude of thankfulness and love permeated the event. Emily was absolutely stunning. Her very presence lifted the spirits of everyone in attendance. Gavin and Emily then spent a very relaxing honeymoon in San Diego, and settled into an apartment in North Seattle.

Emily found work for the National Eating Disorder Association, finding another group of people that needed her more than ample heart. She deeply enjoyed her time there, impressing everyone she worked with. She was even able to go to a convention in Atlanta and meet several of her favorite researchers. She wanted to become a psychologist because she wanted to help people to change. Emily was working in the lab, writing a paper on eating disorders. Truly her life was full.