It was Saturday, January 17, 1998.
I was 21 years old and feeling so excited that my wedding day had finally come. I was about to marry Kenya, the love of my life. Next to my decision to give my heart to Jesus Christ, I had never been so sure of anything.
But there was one thing I felt uncertain and nervous about.
I didn’t know if many people would come to share in our special day because there was a full blown blizzard happening outside! I mean snow, wind, driving advisories…the works.
It did not look good.
What was I thinking getting married in January, in Buffalo, nicknamed by some the “snow capital” of the United States?
St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church—though it was called “Holy Ghost Cathedral Church of God In Christ" while my dad was holding regular worship services there—seats 900 people.
From the looks of things, my fiancé Kenya and I were about to be exchanging vows and rings with brown empty pews as our witnesses.
Then, to make matters worse, my dad couldn’t afford the cost of heat in this colossal building. So it had been shut off, which meant it was frigid. Although my father tried to warm the place with gigantic, loud torpedo heaters that had the whole place smelling like kerosene, that didn’t quite work out.
The heaters—all of them—blew out just hours before the wedding started.
It was f-f-f-freezing.
You could see your breath… indoors.
Needless to say, things weren’t going as planned that day.
My feet felt like two ice bricks. My guests, who surprisingly packed the place out, were shivering. And I felt so embarrassed that I didn’t have better conditions to welcome them into.
But when I latched onto my father’s arm, slowly walked down the aisle, and saw Kenya waiting for me at the altar through my thin white veil, I forgot about the cold chill in the air.
Everything was alright with the world.
Though we both wanted our special day to be as perfect as possible, when things went haywire, we were disappointed, but not distraught.
You see, we were not in love with our wedding day.
We were in love with each other and planned our wedding day as a celebration of that love. Some things fell apart that day, but our love stayed strong.
And 14 years later, that love is still strong.
We have laughed many days about our frosty wedding, but we’re thankful every day for the warm, sincere, ever-growing love we share for one another.
Our wedding day was the perfect preparation for our lives together.
Sometimes, life goes crazy all around us. We have to face unexpected crises: death, illness, and setbacks. But we remember that we cannot always control what happens all around us, but we can guard that love for each other that lives within us.
Nothing can change that, unless we let it.
When things fall apart, we band together, and that togetherness sustains us through it all.
For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health... we love each other.
These are my reflections on love on this, my 14th wedding anniversary.
Thank you for listening.
