“Over my 8th grade summer, I attended Interlochen, an arts camp in the woods of Northern Michigan. When I went there, I was so homesick. It’s embarrassing to say, but I would cry and call my parents to bring me home. I didn’t feel like I deserved to be there, given the talent of everyone around me. I called my dad saying, ‘You have to pick me up. I can’t last for six weeks, let alone one.’ And my dad said, ‘Okay, just start journaling. Call me after a week, and if you still feel this way, then I’ll come and pick you up myself.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, if this is my ticket home, I’ll do it.’ I had no desire to journal, but it was my way out.
So I went to the campus store and bought a journal. I went to the library and opened it up. I was there for almost two and a half hours—my pen did not leave the page. I was writing, writing, and writing. It was a prayer. More than anything, it was just a plea to God for help, and I did this every day for a couple of hours. The more I was writing these thoughts down, the more I realized that I just needed to tell someone what I had been feeling. One of the guys in my cabin, I really didn’t know that well, but when we were walking to attend a student recital together, I started telling him everything. I mean, it’s not in our human nature to be so vulnerable with people, especially at that age. But, he just listened. I eventually found out he was Catholic, and I asked him one Sunday, ‘I’m planning on going to Mass. Do you want to come with me?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’ That ended up being our routine: Sunday Mass at 6:30am, followed by the best bagels ever. Long story short, I ended up staying the full six weeks, and Elliot and I basically became brothers.
But, that wasn’t the end. A few years later, we ended up going to the same college and being roommates. The same guy! He got confirmed our freshman year, and I was his confirmation sponsor, which led us to having a deeper spiritual connection than before. And now, I look back on that experience and think, ‘Wow, that was God working there.’ You know, God put me at the music camp, and He allowed me to suffer in that way to find Elliot. Everything really happens for a reason. I mean, look at the fruits that that has borne over the years.”
