The following article was written by Joe Krieder (‘13), recently graduated member of the Sightline staff.
Have you ever sat and talked with a couple and been amazed by how compatible they are? It’s the little things that you notice most: the way they laugh at the same things, how they finish each other’s sentences, and the genuine affection you can see in their eyes. When a relationship has that kind of give-and-take, you can’t help but wonder how they make it work. In this exclusive feature, I got the chance to observe some of these glowing traits as I sat down with Bethany’s own Craig Mast and Josh Weaver.
As I made my way down the hall to our interview, I was greeted by the sound of Josh’s bellowing laugh echoing throughout his tiled room, no doubt in response to some joke the two of them had just shared. After exchanging a few words, we set up informally in front of a camera, the two of them perched comfortably on a two-seater couch. When I asked them to take me “back to the beginning” for the two of them, both laughed cautiously, not quite sure how to respond. As it happened this match made in “bro” heaven began thanks to a school project. “We were both History majors so we overlapped in quite a few classes,” said Josh. “We were randomly assigned a project together in Junior seminar. Being paired up together by the professor was the first time we worked together.” This particular project, it turns out, involved some rather unorthodox research. Short on information about a particular professor, they did what any students would do: look up the professor’s number on whitepages.com and give him a call. “He was a professor at Boston University, so we just called him on the phone,” says Craig. “At his home…at ten o’clock at night,” chimed in Josh, “his wife answered.”
So I had the beginning; the start of a bromance that would come to rival some of the greats. Listening to them reminisce about their college days, I was treated to stories of eccentric professors, bonds forged over a shared love of politics, and impromptu bluegrass jam sessions. But in the back of my mind there was one nagging little thought that just wouldn’t go away: how could this bromance survive once the glory days of college were over? They agreed; it did seem grim for a while. Josh graduated and moved to Jordan for a year while Craig began pursuing graduate studies at AMBS. Limited contact between them and an impending wedding for Craig seemed to have effectively killed the bromance of the century, but it was given a lifeline in the form of a disused sunroom in Craig’s new house. “When we [Craig and new wife, Krista] bought our house out of college, we bought it with the idea that it was bigger than what we needed,” Craig told me, “so we rented it out to friends who were in seminary.” No prizes for guessing who one of their first guests was. Josh moved back from Jordan, began attending seminary, and reunited with Craig.
I was very aware though that things had to be very different this time around. They were no longer swinging bachelors enjoying the college life. They were getting older and settling down. After all, Craig had already married his college sweetheart Krista. No matter what, it wasn’t going to be just the two of them anymore. With this in mind, I decided to bring up a rather delicate subject: wives. How could there be room for one, or indeed two more people in this relationship? Surely they had to make sure their wives were compatible. “I wasn’t going to choose for Josh,” said Craig, “and he wasn’t going to choose for me. I think you just hope…”
Asking what the future held for the two of them, I received very guarded responses.“Well I can’t speak for Craig,” Josh said, “or maybe I can…neither of us has a plan for what’s happening in x amount of years…” Craig’s response was even more tight-lipped. “I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow,” he said. So maybe this bromance to end all bromances has an expiration date. There may come a time when Josh has to find someone else to jam with on his side-drum, and Craig has to share his political rants with his wife. As hard as it may be to imagine, there could be an end for Josh and Craig. No matter what might happen though, there will always be memories of school projects, jam sessions, soccer camps, weddings, and late night discussions to take with them.
~Joe Krieder