Oregon City, Oregon sits on the banks of the Willamette River on the outskirts of Portland. While it is not the bustling metropolis of Portland, it’s a popular area for people who make the commute into the state’s largest city for work. About 18 miles to the east is the small town of Estacada, on the door step of Mount Hood National Forest. It has a small-town feel, complete with a downtown video rental store. While you can drive from one town to the other in less time than it takes to listen to a decent podcast, they are far enough away to keep unknowing family members from ever meeting.

Aviation Machinist Mate Airman Meadow Copher, a 2021 graduate of Estacada High School and Aviation Machinist Mate Airman Ayden Nuttbrock, a 2021 graduate of West Linn High School in Oregon City, never crossed paths before joining the Navy.

They both joined out of the Oregon City recruiting station. Copher shipped off to boot camp on January 30, 2023 and Nuttbrock left the very next day. If they would have attended a Delayed Entry Program meeting together, Nuttbrock left for boot camp three weeks after enlisting and Copher missed the one DEP meeting he attended, they would have discovered that they are cousins.

Instead, that was unearthed during their time at Naval Training Center Great Lakes, Illinois. In boot camp, the two were unaware of their lineage, until Copher spotted a familiar last name on a Type Three blouse. Back home in Oregon, Ayden Nuttbrock’s father let him know ADAN Copher was his cousin, during a phone call home, after learning about in a Facebook group for Navy parents.

So, they each knew the other existed. But, to this point, they had still not been formally introduced. After battle stations, the final large event of basic training, he saw Copher out while both of their divisions were outside doing base beautification, picking up trash and pulling weeds. Nuttbrock thought that if he did not go and talk to her, they would end up graduating boot camp and never see each other again.

“We’re walking around and I see her and I’m like ok let’s just go talk to her,” he said. “We end up talking a bit after that and that broke the ice.” 

Copher knew that, eventually, he would walk up and broach the question. “I was just waiting. He asked ‘are you related to anyone with the last name Nuttbrock,” she said. “I said ‘yes but you already knew that.’”

 Their newfound familial bond helped when it came time to attend AD “A” school in Pensacola, Florida. The two attended classes together, sat next to each other and went out on liberty together. 

“We hung out, went to the mall, went to a monster truck rally,” he said. “It was nice to know somebody and knowing that we’re family adds a lot of trust.” 

“It was easier because I felt like, I kind of know him without really knowing him,” she said. “It was just easier to talk to him and hang out with him.” 

They did their best to get the same first duty station, picking exactly the same thing, but Nuttbrock will head to Washington while Copher heads to Virginia. He got exactly what he asked for, she got the exact opposite. 

They are back together at Navy Recruiting Station Oregon City on HARP recruiting duty. Both have met each other’s family, who believe that this has been a strangely coincidental way for the two to meet. 

“Everyone just thought it was crazy,” Copher said. “How we both ended up in boot camp the same time and from the same recruiters office.”

Then again, nothing is crazier than family.