W when mason tyler visited a south dakota hospital to interview for a medical residency in 2018, he didn’t expect to find more than a potential career move. But as he toured the facility, he came across something much more. He said a brief “hello” to Carissa Elkins, working as a resident at the hospital at the time, as he passed by. It was a small interaction, but it had a lasting impact on Mason. “I was like, ‘Well, I could definitely come to this spot if she’s here,’” he remembers years later.
she said yes After about a year and a half, the couple was ready for the next steps, and Mason took care to hatch the perfect plan. He would take Carissa to one of their favorite hiking spots. He arranged to fly her parents out from West Virginia and have friends come along to watch. He was ready. But then, COVID-19 threw a wrench into the plan. The sudden onset of the pandemic resulted in cancelled flights and myriad other problems Mason had to deal with at the very last minute. To top it off, the trail where he wanted to propose was packed with snow on this particular day, making the picturesque set-up he’d envisioned more difficult to arrange. And, although his Plan B was to FaceTime Carissa’s family during the proposal, there was no cell phone service to be found. In the end, Mason pulled it off with the help of a photographer, plus a friend who delivered Carissa a letter from Mason and helped her get where she needed to go on that snow- packed trail. She said yes, and in that moment, nothing else really mattered.
The interaction that day was so small, Mason jokes, that it didn’t even register with Carissa, who clocks them as officially meeting six months later. “She obviously did not care at all,” he teases. Carissa first remembers meeting Mason when she sat next to him at his welcome luncheon after he’d accepted the residency position. They got along well, but were both extremely busy in their residencies. Yet, over the months, colleagues and friends who spent time with the two of them sensed that they were destined to be more than friends. “Anytime we worked together, everyone always asked me, ‘What’s going on with you and Dr. Tyler?’” Carissa says. “I feel like there was a palpable chemistry there that other people picked up on.”
40 | WV WEDDINGS Fall/Winter 2021
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