On April 18, 2026, my daughter, Abigail married Ryan Klauer in Santa Cruz, California at the Chaminade Resort. 

Ryan and Abbey met the summer before their junior year of high school at a pre-college summer camp. When the instructor announced that everyone will pair up to prepare a skit to present at the end of the course, Abbey instantly knew that she wanted to partner with the cute blond boy named Ryan.  Ryan suggests he and Abbey go to a nearby cafe for breakfast before class one day. They spend a stormy morning sharing coffee and stories of their hometowns. But Summer camp comes to a close, and they go off to their respective corners of the country. 

Fast forward to August 2017. Ryan is about to start his junior year at USC and is watching Star Wars III. A lava-filled climactic fight scene makes him think back to his stage combat class, and to his partner, Abbey. “I wonder how she’s doing, maybe I can look her up.” Finding her through Explo’s Facebook group, he began drafting a quick essay-length Hello.

Abbey is thrilled to receive his message. The two begin exchanging messages that are better described as letters, perhaps novels, than texts. “What have you been up to?” quickly turned to “What do you think about..?” and “I thought of you when…”, each carefully crafted message bringing them closer together despite the distance. 

The letters continued. After Ryan graduated college, he moved to San Francisco. Abbey planned to visit him March 20, 2020, but COVID had different plans. When her flight was cancelled the night before she was set to depart, Ryan suggested they instead watch a movie and video chat. One short movie turned into talking until 3 am. 

They were together through law school and a job led Abbey to San Francisco too. As a mom, It was a beautiful start to their future. We all waited for Ryan to pop the question, which he did while they were skiing in Canada. The next year was filled with bridal dress shopping, zoom meetings with hotels and all the other fun stuff that goes into planning a special day.

Anybody that knows Abbey, knows this was a personalized wedding. It was exactly what she wanted, poppies and wildflowers everywhere, her Maid of Honor was Man of Honor and best friend since freshman year at George Jenkins, Austin Alvarez and no wedding cake but kouign-amann for everyone to enjoy.  The day was beautiful with the temperatures in the low 70’s and the birds chirping.   The ceremony was intimate and everyone that attended had a special place in the couple’s heart.  I will never forget the beauty in their vows and the way they looked at one another. 

After the ceremony, the guests were ready to party and celebrate the couple. Abbey’s smile lit up the entire room, and it was contagious.  There was a jazz trio and harpist, drinks, plated dinner, dancing and even chicken fingers and fries at the end of the night.  After the reception, the couple enjoyed their honeymoon in Fiji.

As a mother, it was a magical weekend that I did not want to end. You go through many emotions of when she was a little baby to best friends going on a cruise together – you realize all that has and will change, but it is the way life works, and I could not be happier to be a part of this new chapter.