"Our
love story started with a meeting that would change both our lives. I was new
in town and didn't know a soul. I met Jackie through a guy I was with at the
time. I was in my 30s with two kids. I had never been in a relationship with a
woman. I had spent my entire adult life married to a man. But, the day I met
her, I swear lightning struck.
We went from strangers,
to acquaintances, to friends, within no time. The more I got to know her the
more I couldn't get enough of her. Fast forward through some really messy and
awful breaks ups in both our lives, we thought we would give it a whirl. I was
pretty clueless when it came to dating anyone, much less a woman. But I jumped
in with both feet. I was head over heels
and I fumbled my way through the first days of our relationship completely
inexperienced. But, I would spend the rest of my life figuring it out, just to
get to kiss her lips or feel her touch.
You know, it's amazing
how you read and hear songs about someone lighting a fire inside of you or
butterflies; you never consider for a second that mumbo jumbo is real. But, it
is. Since I met her, I have experienced every love song, every poem and then
some. I never knew a love like this was even possible.
After knowing deep down
in my bones she was all I was ever going to want, I decided I to commit myself to
Jackie in every way possible. I planned for months how to do it, what the ring
would look like and what I would say. I played every scenario out in my head.
We had talked about marriage in the past, and it was something she had never
really thought was for her. So, I went into my proposal thinking, she may very
well say no and tell me to hit the road. Let me tell you, I am terrible at
keeping secrets and being sneaky. I blush like a school girl and cannot tell a lie
to save my life, so I knew hiding this from her would be a challenge. But, I
knew I wanted to be the one to ask. So I did, Christmas of 2016, I got down on
one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life as my wife. She said yes. I felt absolute joy in that
moment.
Now, the planning began.
We looked at colors, we looked at venues, and we made guest lists. We started
buying table arrangements and making invitations and it became stressful. So,
one night cuddled up on the couch scouring through Pinterest, we decided we
were going to make this about us. We decided we were going to elope.
Jackie was in the Navy
and had been all over the world. I had not even been to the west coast, so I
had no idea where to even begin looking. We looked at all of the countries we
actually could get married and
started narrowing down the list. I think the final decision came down to Jackie
finding me a race to run in the right time frame. So, Iceland it was!
Once we picked the
country, I immediately started researching what paperwork was needed and what
the process was to legally get married in another country. After emails and
lots of internet reading, I found out what we needed to have and the required
time period we needed to be in the country before the ceremony. The paperwork
was not fun, but the Iceland government was so wonderful by being very specific
about their requirements. Finally, after a lot of work, everything was a go.
We arrived 7 days before
our planned ceremony, to allow the proper timeline for the documents Iceland
needed. We spent those days sight-seeing in the most beautiful country. Words
cannot describe the beauty of Iceland. During our entire trip, we stayed in
contact with our celebrant, Helga. She found an isolated and breathtaking spot
for the ceremony, and even recommended a fantastic local photographer who
captured the wedding. I will caution
those who plan to elope though, getting married in a foreign country you have
to be flexible. Like any other wedding day, things will go wrong. Being
unfamiliar with the area our ceremony was being held, we spent the first several
hours of our wedding day in the car just trying to reach our destination. We
dressed in a museum bathroom and I purchased and created my flower arrangement with
flowers from a local grocery store. The day was a blur but it was magical. I wouldn’t
change a thing about that day for the world because on July 17th,
2017, I married the love of my life.
And they lived happily ever
after…. "
