When Tanya Sampson saw Tyson Tremoulet at a Catholic Youth Organization camp almost 20 years ago she was taken by him. Tanya was 13. Tyson was 14.
The two middle school students spent as much time together as they could that week. They fell in love and made out at camp but when the week was over, Tyson headed back to Edmonds and Tanya to Washougal.
“My parents still laugh until this day because I was crying all the way home,” Tanya said.
They both knew that the long-distance romance would be difficult, but the couple called each other often and wrote letters. Tyson would write 14-page letters to Tanya.
Their communication went on for four years with sporadic visits. Tanya would get Tyson’s letters out once a year and read them again.
After high school, Tyson joined the Marine Corps.
“He shipped off to boot camp my senior year,” Tanya said. “He was stationed at Twentynine Palms, California.”
Although Tyson wanted Tanya to visit him, he thought it would be hard to see her. He broke off contact with her.
Both Tyson and Tanya went on with their lives. She got married when she was 21 years old, and Tyson got engaged. Neither relationship worked out.
Tanya decided to try and track down Tyson, but her searches came up empty. She still had his letters and read them often. He’d even sent her some from boot camp.
Tanya’s sister, who joined the Navy, tried to find Tyson. No luck. Tanya thought that he was either out of the Marines or that there was no record of where he might be deployed.
“I looked for him for eight or nine years,” Tanya said.
At the beginning of June 2003, Tanya was talking to a co-worker about Tyson. She had one of his letters in her desk and was about to do her annual search for him. She went home that evening and checked her e-mail to find that Tyson had found her.
“It said, ‘My name is Tyson and I’m looking for this girl. If you are that person please contact me,’ ” Tanya said.
Tanya Marie Sampson and Tyson David Tremoulet, both of Arlington, plan an Aug. 1 wedding in Oysterville.
Their parents are Marie Sampson of Anna Maria Island, Fla., and Ric and Paula Sampson of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Olivier “Sonny” and Jean Tremoulet of Edmonds.
Tanya didn’t know at the time, but Tyson had come across a group e-mail of about 40 people who lived in Tanya’s area. There were no names, just e-mail addresses. He sent the same e-mail to each person to see if any of them were Tanya.
“I e-mailed every single one of them,” Tyson said.
Tanya wrote back to say that she was the person he was looking for and, of course, she remembered him.
“I told him that I still have every letter he ever wrote me,” Tanya said.
Tanya invited Tyson down to Washougal for her birthday two weeks later.
“He rolled up in his big fancy black truck and swept me off my feet,” Tanya said.
Tanya and Tyson are excited about their future together. Tyson says Tanya is a good girl and that he’d lie down in traffic for her.
“We’re a pretty good fit,” Tyson said. “I’m looking forward to growing old together and good times.”
For more information on Love Story and Celebrations, call Christina Harper at 425-339-3491 or e-mail harper@heraldnet.com.
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