20 years ago

by Mark Siminuk
(Lake Forest, CA)

It was 20 years ago last June when I met my wife in Yosemite. I met her when I decided to enroll in a college field study trip backpacking in Yosemite. I backpacked frequently but not much in Yosemite.

The class arrived at Glacier Point in the morning and we started hiking towards Little Yosemite Valley where we would camp. And there amongst the grandeur of Yosemite was a beautiful statuette that caught my eye; her name was Sheilah.

She was in my class hiking with two friends. Somewhere along the way we began to talk and that was it. She had me at "do you want a gummy worm" and I had her after a bad joke about dogwood trees!

When we got back home we started dating. Less than a year later, we return to Yosemite for her birthday on New Years Eve. And there near a fireplace in the Ahwahnee I proposed.

Months later we decided to get married at the Yosemite Chapel. We had a beautiful and wonderful ceremony. It was great that so many friends and family attended.

That was 20 years ago on September 28th. Since then we have come to this magnificent valley no less than 20 times both before and after our three children. Each time we visit the chapel; and I think how great it was to get married at such a fantastic place.


See Kathy's Reply:


Thanks for sharing your story Mark! What a great beginning to a great life together. You are blessed to live in the state of California so that you can return every year. And doubly blessed that you can share your beginnings with your children.

My husband and I got engaged in Yosemite too. We would not have minded getting married at the Yosemite Chapel but it just didn't work out...but hey the marriage has :) 21 years later, we're still going strong!

All my best~