Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Tops magazine
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Tops in Lex, featured the wedding in their August addition. Click on the link below to see it.
http://www.topsinlex.com/weddings/marty_michael.php
and the journey continues....
Well once again it has been way too long since my last post. Life has been crazy. Needless to say I am now happily married, the wedding was on June 2, 2012. But before I get into the details of the wedding let me tell you a little about the journey along the way.
Michael proposed in Sept. of last year and we began to plan the wedding. I truly had no idea what I wanted in a wedding but Michael of course new exactly what he wanted and what we came up with together (mostly his creation) was far better then anything I could have ever imagined.
Sept. - Feb. was pretty uneventful just us putting together ideas and setting dates for engagement photos and picking out vendors for the big day. But March set off a chain of events that neither Michael nor our families will ever forget.
March 5th, Michael was awakened to a call from an unknown caller around 11:30 pm that his dad (who lived in California) was at an AA meeting and had had a massive heart attack and was in route to the hospital. We were told by the caller (who we later learned was Allison) that he had collapsed on the floor and CPR had been performed on him until the paramedics arrived. God was truly watching out for this man because the chain of events that occurred could not have happened without some divine intervention.
One, Michael's father, Charlie, lives alone. So if he had had a heart attack at his home he would have died without a doubt. Two, the man who performed CPR had never been to an AA meeting before and chose to come to the one Charlie was at. He had also just completed a course in CPR. Three, on the way to the hospital the ambulance had to reroute and go to another hospital because the nearest one's ER was full. So they took him to UCLA medical center in Santa Monica, CA. A very up to date hospital on technology. When he arrived, he had been revived twice by an AED and was put on a machine that lowered his body temperature to prevent brain damage. Four, the lady who called Michael stayed by his side until we were able to get flights and get to the hospital. Because she did not want him to be alone.
Luckily, we were able to get flights at 6:00 am out of Louisville. The only problem is March 5, 2012 was the only night in the entire winter that we got snow. And there was a lot of it, five inches I believe before it was finished. We passed numerous cars in the ditch as well as a snow plow that was also in the ditch, but God is faithful and after driving for 2 hours which would normally be a one hour trip we arrived safely at the airport. We caught our flight and arrived in Santa Monica approximately 12 hours after receiving the call.
We spent 10 days in California, not knowing how it all would end. One day he was doing good and on an uphill swing and the next we were uncertain if he would make it through the day. But he did survive much to the surprise of the admitting doctor. He turned out to be the cardiologist Charlie went to see after leaving the hospital. The Dr. said most 30 year olds don't survive that kind of a heart attack, little lone an 83 year old man.
We spent the next month to two months moving him to Lexington, Ky. were he is living in an assisted living facility and happy as a lark. He was Michael's best man at the wedding. It was so awesome to see him standing up there in front of so many people who had prayed for him after the heart attack. God is so good.
Then on April 8, the day before Easter, I got a call from daughter, she was sobbing and telling me that her best friends little girl, Katelynn, (who was going to be one of our flower girls), had drowned in her grandparents swimming pool. She was two years old. I was stunned and in shock. So we spent the following week helping the family as well as attending the funeral. My heart was broken, seeing her lying in that casket. She looked like a little porcelain doll. It still doesn't seem real. I have so many pictures of her, when I see them now I struggle to believe she is gone. Nikki, (Katelynn's mom) had taken my daughter Ashley to the zoo last August for Ashley's birthday and of course I went along to take pictures. Nikki has three children, Kole who is now 11, Kylie who just turned 4 and Katelynn who would have been 3 in May. All of them were going to be in the wedding. I will never forget Katie's face when I asked her if she wanted to be a flower girl in my wedding, she looked at me grinning from ear to ear and shook her head yes, even though she had no idea what I had just asked her to do. She was always such a happy little girl and her and Kylie were inseparable. They were only 10 months apart in age and did everything together.
My daughter and son-in-law are God parents to these children, so they have them all the time. At least one weekend a month they stay at my daughters house. As you can imagine they are like grandchildren to me.
Unfortunately, that was not the last tragedy that would occur before the wedding. May was uneventful until memorial day. May 27th, five days before the wedding, I got a call that my nephew, Jake, who was 23 was killed in a four wheeler accident. He was taking the four wheeler to his house on a paved road when a man turned in front of him and Jake could not avoid hitting the back end of the vehicle, he was thrown from it and died several hours later after being air lifted to a trauma unit in Cabell-Huntington hospital, in West Virginia. Because they lived in Ohio and that was the nearest trauma unit, Ohio insisted on an autopsy before his body could be brought back to Ohio for the funeral. This meant it would be Wednesday before they could get the body back. The visitation was scheduled for Friday night and the funeral was to be on Saturday. My heart was aching. We had rehearsal dinner Friday night and photos started at 10:00 am on Saturday for the wedding that was scheduled for 5:30. I would not be able to make a two and half hour trip home and back to attend the visitation or the funeral. Fortunately, the funeral director is a friend of the family and he allowed me, Michael and my two children to come and pay our last respects on Thurs. evening.
Talk about a tough week. With last minute details still to be done and Michael's Uncle Steen in from Denmark, I was truly torn. I felt like a terrible host, but knew they would understand. I so wanted to be there for my family. Especially, my sister Karen. Jake was her oldest son.
Saturday arrived and we were in full swing of the final touches from having my hair done, to makeup and pictures.
Just before the wedding was about to begin, the door to the dressing room opened and in came two of my sisters and my mother. I immediately burst into tears. Knowing the pain they were feeling, wanting to be there and not being able to. But I was thrilled to see them arrive after such a long and tragic week. I truly did not know if they would be able to make the trip after my nephew's funeral. My mother was extremely pale, she has a pace maker and I was concerned for her health. But as the evening went on her color came back.
We decided we wanted Kole, Katie's older brother to light a candle in honor of Katelynn and Jake. I was afraid Kole might not be able to handle that, but when asked he was very excited about doing it.
So we chose to celebrate the lives of our loved ones instead of their deaths. We wanted it to be a joyous time not a sad time. And I believe we were able to accomplish just that.
The wedding was great, Michael insisted on having some of my photography friends come and act like the papparazzi and take photos of the guests as they entered the building. We even put out a red carpet for them to walk down. I have truly enjoyed looking at those photos and seeing the surprised responses from the guests as they entered the building. We also chose to have a pre-reception before the ceremony. That was a huge hit with the guests. We chose the Thoroughbred Center as our venue so we could hold everything in the same building, the pre-reception in the front room, the wedding in the auditorium, and the reception in the back. It was a huge success.
We opened the ceremony with two friends of ours singing Michael Buble's song, Baby, you've got what it takes, which is a very fun and upbeat song, we had some stringed instruments to play the music during the wedding and through part of the reception and then the DJ took over. Oh and lets not forget Kole was the ring bearer, at the rehearsal, he got down on one knee and bowed his head and presented the ring. Michael loved it so much that he told Kole if you do that tomorrow, I will give you $20.00. So needless to say, Michael handed Kole $20.00 on stage in front of everyone. It truly was a very fun ceremony, in spite of the tragedies and heartaches that preceded it. Michael wanted to show everyone that Christianity doesn't have to be boring, it can actually be fun. And I believe we accomplished our goal.
Michael proposed in Sept. of last year and we began to plan the wedding. I truly had no idea what I wanted in a wedding but Michael of course new exactly what he wanted and what we came up with together (mostly his creation) was far better then anything I could have ever imagined.
Sept. - Feb. was pretty uneventful just us putting together ideas and setting dates for engagement photos and picking out vendors for the big day. But March set off a chain of events that neither Michael nor our families will ever forget.
March 5th, Michael was awakened to a call from an unknown caller around 11:30 pm that his dad (who lived in California) was at an AA meeting and had had a massive heart attack and was in route to the hospital. We were told by the caller (who we later learned was Allison) that he had collapsed on the floor and CPR had been performed on him until the paramedics arrived. God was truly watching out for this man because the chain of events that occurred could not have happened without some divine intervention.
One, Michael's father, Charlie, lives alone. So if he had had a heart attack at his home he would have died without a doubt. Two, the man who performed CPR had never been to an AA meeting before and chose to come to the one Charlie was at. He had also just completed a course in CPR. Three, on the way to the hospital the ambulance had to reroute and go to another hospital because the nearest one's ER was full. So they took him to UCLA medical center in Santa Monica, CA. A very up to date hospital on technology. When he arrived, he had been revived twice by an AED and was put on a machine that lowered his body temperature to prevent brain damage. Four, the lady who called Michael stayed by his side until we were able to get flights and get to the hospital. Because she did not want him to be alone.
Luckily, we were able to get flights at 6:00 am out of Louisville. The only problem is March 5, 2012 was the only night in the entire winter that we got snow. And there was a lot of it, five inches I believe before it was finished. We passed numerous cars in the ditch as well as a snow plow that was also in the ditch, but God is faithful and after driving for 2 hours which would normally be a one hour trip we arrived safely at the airport. We caught our flight and arrived in Santa Monica approximately 12 hours after receiving the call.
We spent 10 days in California, not knowing how it all would end. One day he was doing good and on an uphill swing and the next we were uncertain if he would make it through the day. But he did survive much to the surprise of the admitting doctor. He turned out to be the cardiologist Charlie went to see after leaving the hospital. The Dr. said most 30 year olds don't survive that kind of a heart attack, little lone an 83 year old man.
We spent the next month to two months moving him to Lexington, Ky. were he is living in an assisted living facility and happy as a lark. He was Michael's best man at the wedding. It was so awesome to see him standing up there in front of so many people who had prayed for him after the heart attack. God is so good.
Then on April 8, the day before Easter, I got a call from daughter, she was sobbing and telling me that her best friends little girl, Katelynn, (who was going to be one of our flower girls), had drowned in her grandparents swimming pool. She was two years old. I was stunned and in shock. So we spent the following week helping the family as well as attending the funeral. My heart was broken, seeing her lying in that casket. She looked like a little porcelain doll. It still doesn't seem real. I have so many pictures of her, when I see them now I struggle to believe she is gone. Nikki, (Katelynn's mom) had taken my daughter Ashley to the zoo last August for Ashley's birthday and of course I went along to take pictures. Nikki has three children, Kole who is now 11, Kylie who just turned 4 and Katelynn who would have been 3 in May. All of them were going to be in the wedding. I will never forget Katie's face when I asked her if she wanted to be a flower girl in my wedding, she looked at me grinning from ear to ear and shook her head yes, even though she had no idea what I had just asked her to do. She was always such a happy little girl and her and Kylie were inseparable. They were only 10 months apart in age and did everything together.
My daughter and son-in-law are God parents to these children, so they have them all the time. At least one weekend a month they stay at my daughters house. As you can imagine they are like grandchildren to me.
Unfortunately, that was not the last tragedy that would occur before the wedding. May was uneventful until memorial day. May 27th, five days before the wedding, I got a call that my nephew, Jake, who was 23 was killed in a four wheeler accident. He was taking the four wheeler to his house on a paved road when a man turned in front of him and Jake could not avoid hitting the back end of the vehicle, he was thrown from it and died several hours later after being air lifted to a trauma unit in Cabell-Huntington hospital, in West Virginia. Because they lived in Ohio and that was the nearest trauma unit, Ohio insisted on an autopsy before his body could be brought back to Ohio for the funeral. This meant it would be Wednesday before they could get the body back. The visitation was scheduled for Friday night and the funeral was to be on Saturday. My heart was aching. We had rehearsal dinner Friday night and photos started at 10:00 am on Saturday for the wedding that was scheduled for 5:30. I would not be able to make a two and half hour trip home and back to attend the visitation or the funeral. Fortunately, the funeral director is a friend of the family and he allowed me, Michael and my two children to come and pay our last respects on Thurs. evening.
Talk about a tough week. With last minute details still to be done and Michael's Uncle Steen in from Denmark, I was truly torn. I felt like a terrible host, but knew they would understand. I so wanted to be there for my family. Especially, my sister Karen. Jake was her oldest son.
Saturday arrived and we were in full swing of the final touches from having my hair done, to makeup and pictures.
Just before the wedding was about to begin, the door to the dressing room opened and in came two of my sisters and my mother. I immediately burst into tears. Knowing the pain they were feeling, wanting to be there and not being able to. But I was thrilled to see them arrive after such a long and tragic week. I truly did not know if they would be able to make the trip after my nephew's funeral. My mother was extremely pale, she has a pace maker and I was concerned for her health. But as the evening went on her color came back.
We decided we wanted Kole, Katie's older brother to light a candle in honor of Katelynn and Jake. I was afraid Kole might not be able to handle that, but when asked he was very excited about doing it.
So we chose to celebrate the lives of our loved ones instead of their deaths. We wanted it to be a joyous time not a sad time. And I believe we were able to accomplish just that.
The wedding was great, Michael insisted on having some of my photography friends come and act like the papparazzi and take photos of the guests as they entered the building. We even put out a red carpet for them to walk down. I have truly enjoyed looking at those photos and seeing the surprised responses from the guests as they entered the building. We also chose to have a pre-reception before the ceremony. That was a huge hit with the guests. We chose the Thoroughbred Center as our venue so we could hold everything in the same building, the pre-reception in the front room, the wedding in the auditorium, and the reception in the back. It was a huge success.
We opened the ceremony with two friends of ours singing Michael Buble's song, Baby, you've got what it takes, which is a very fun and upbeat song, we had some stringed instruments to play the music during the wedding and through part of the reception and then the DJ took over. Oh and lets not forget Kole was the ring bearer, at the rehearsal, he got down on one knee and bowed his head and presented the ring. Michael loved it so much that he told Kole if you do that tomorrow, I will give you $20.00. So needless to say, Michael handed Kole $20.00 on stage in front of everyone. It truly was a very fun ceremony, in spite of the tragedies and heartaches that preceded it. Michael wanted to show everyone that Christianity doesn't have to be boring, it can actually be fun. And I believe we accomplished our goal.
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