September 2006: We had just moved into our house a few months before and were getting ready for family to come in town for our wedding. I decided to try my hand at landscaping. Keep in mind, I know nothing about plants and gardening. I spend the afternoon pulling weeds and trying to get the house fixed up. That night, I notice a red itchy rash. Any guesses???? Poison Oak! Yup, that's right. I got poison oak 1 week before my wedding. You would think that would be the worst of it, but read on....
Fast forward to September 29th. Chris and I load up his Honda Civic with all of our decorations, centerpieces, luggage for our honeymoon, cake topper, favors, rings....everything and we drive 2 hours to Easton, MD where our wedding would be held. Chris family flies in from around the country (Wisconsin, NY, Texas) and we spend the afternoon/evening hanging out and having our rehearsal dinner with our friends and family.
Around 9pm that night, I decided to go home with my BFF and bridesmaid, Melissa. The benedryl was taking effect and I was exhausted. Chris stayed at the hotel and continued to hang out with his family. Side note...Melissa's hubby is a police officer. That will be useful information in a few minutes.
Around 5am that morning, Melissa's home telephone rang. There was a phone (with caller ID) in the spare room where I was staying so I picked it up to see who was calling. Yes, I am apparently that nosey friend. I saw that it was Chris's cell phone so I immediately answered. Turns out, it was his brother, Doug using Chris's phone. I panicked. My first thought was that he got scared and left. My second thought was that he was hurt.
Doug would not talk to me. He was being really weird, which only made me panic more. He insisted on only talking to Melissa's husband. After a few minutes of me begging him to talk to me, I decided to hang up and let him call back and let Melissa or her hubby answer.
Doug called back and I stood outside of their bedroom door impatiently trying to overhear the conversation. The first thing I hear is Melissa say, "I'm not telling her, you tell her". That was when I nearly plowed through their door. You can only imagine what I was thinking....
Finally, Chris gets on the phone. The first thing he says is, "I'm ok, I love you and still want to marry you". Good thing he started the conversation like that as it calmed me down enough to hear what he had to say. He then proceeded to tell me that unfortunately, our car (filled with everything for our wedding and honeymoon) was stolen. At first he thought it was a family member playing a joke on him, but once he realized it was really true, he called Melissa's husband, knowing he was a police officer.
To be honest, I was upset, but mainly, I was just relieved. I was happy he was not hurt or sick and happy that he still wanted to get married. Material things can all be replaced. You may think that was a sign not to get married; however, we saw it as something that brought us closer. We figured, if we can get through a crisis together like that, we can get through anything....and six years later, we are doing just that.
With the help of family and our best friends, we rescheduled our honeymoon, decorated our reception hall, made a new seating chart, bought new rings (thank you WALMART for being the only store in Easton open), and continued with our special day.
The next day, we drove to Philly to get new passports and my best friends packed me a suitcase full of their cutest clothes (thankfully, we wore the same size) and we were ready to start our new life together.
Happy 6 year Anniversary to my husband and best friend, Chris. I love you!
