Hello everyone, and thank you so much for being here—I know it means the world to Clara and Gresham to be surrounded by all of you today.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Gabrielle Eisma, and I’ve had the honor of being Clara’s friend for the past five years.
Clara and I met at Calvin University through the Art and English programs. On a study abroad trip to Northern Ireland, she was one of the only classmates to get up at five a.m. with me and race to the top of a mountain to watch the sun rise over Belfast. It was friendship at first hike.
I met Gresham in “Painting 101,” where he was the nicest, most talented artist in the room. Very silently and to myself, I thought, How on earth does this man have so much to talk about all the time?
But the three of us had three classes together in one semester—and somehow Gresham always ended up sitting next to us, in every class, constantly talking and smiling at Clara. One night, we each had to bring home about fifty pounds of photography equipment for our next assignment. I drove a rusted-out Chevy Trailblazer named Winston—after Winston Churchill, because despite it lacking breaks and being on its second engine, it would never give up, never give up, never give up.
I offered Clara and Gresham a ride back to the Calvin apartments. This instant relief washed over Gresham’s face.
When Clara and Gresham got out of the car and grabbed their lights and backpacks, Clara was smiling, Gresham was sweating, and I was completely oblivious to the fact that I had just unknowingly given a ride to someone who most definitely did not live in the Calvin Apartments, but had taken the two mile detour so that he could finally ask Clara out on a first date.
But you know what? Never give up, never give up, never give up. Because Clara said yes. And when she told me, I said:
“Gresham. Like—like Gresham Gresham?”
And Clara said, “Uh huh.”
So I said, “What are you going to do about it?!”
What she did was go on the date. And the first date turned into two. And then the long studio art classes became long flirting sessions. And after graduation, when Clara and I pinky promised that we would see somewhere new and exciting, that plan grew a little to include a certain someone named Gresham.
I’ll never forget the moment sitting in a restaurant in Bath, England, when Clara stepped away from our table for just a second.
And he had this smile, and he said: “I really like her, Gabbie. I really, really do. Everything is better with Clara.”
Except he doesn’t like Turkish Delight better with Clara, because an hour later we watched him open the restaurant window and throw his piece of desert out the window and into the streets of Bath.
But the you know what? Everything is better with Clara. She’s wise, kind, and strong. Her sense of justice and her love for God makes her an unstoppable force of good in the world. She’s adventurous, she’s an amazing storyteller, and she’s an incredible person to be with—even when she busts her knee with you when rock climbing and crutches around for months, even when you make her dive into the thirty-eight-degree fjord water in Norway, and even when you throw up English pasty all over her shoes after a particularly bad bus ride through the English countryside. Oh, and make that last one on her birthday.
My prayer for you both? It’s the same prayer I said each day I got into my rusted-out Chevy Trailblazer named Winston Churchill: never give up, never give up, never give up. What you have with each other is beautiful—God’s kingdom here is more beautiful because of the forever promises you’ve made to each other today.
So, let’s toast to Clara and Gresham. To a lifetime filled with love, laughter, and endless adventures. May your love for God and each other grow stronger each day. Cheers!
Gabrielle Eisma graduated Calvin with a BFA in studio art and writing in 2022. She’s from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she now works as a writer and illustrator for books for (mostly) children and middle grade readers.
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I’ve anxiously awaited your next post and am not disappointed You’re down to earth insight is fabulous and filled with wisdom Lu words!
Just as beautiful as it was in person. 🙂