Sarah Blake LaRose

A note from Sarah:

Kevin and I had several meetings with the pastor in preparation for our wedding, which was scheduled on June 9. We planned initially for the ceremony ot be open to members of our church as well as a number of invited guests from the local community and out of town. We found it necessary to make some changes due to budget constraints. Our moving expenses were not tremendous; but both of us had significant personal expenses, and we felt it was important to prioritize our spending in order to get Kevin here and establish our home. So we changed our plans and scheduled a small wedding with a few guests who would be issued personal invitations.

During May and June, our lives revolved around moving me from one house to another and organizing the new house. The new house began to take good shape; and my friend Sharon said when she stepped inside one day, “It’s starting to look like a home.” Kevin and I broke in the gas stove and greatly enjoyed the fruits of our cooking work together. However, Kevin’s breathing became labored, and we suspected that he was severely allergic to something. I cleaned like the best Queen of Clean that ever existed, set up three Hamilton Beach air purifiers in the most allergen-prone areas of the house, checked the pollen levels, made sure he had all of his medications on time… Nothing helped; and in fact, he got worse. So off we went to the doctor–he for new meds and me for an allergy shot.

I never got my shot. I had a reaction to several insect bites and was put on antibiotics. Meanwhile, Kevin found out that he was not having problems with allergies but pneumonia. He was admitted to the hospital five days before the wedding. There’s nothing like having one of the wedding party in the hospital to make things a little interesting! We decided to go on with the wedding and do the best we could, including holding the reception.

The pastor, my dad, and Leta, a friend from church, came to the hospital at ceremony time; and the ceremony was held in Kevin’s room in the critical care unit. The guests gathered at the church and listened in via speaker phone. Some chose to close their eyes and experience the ceremony as Kevin and I might experience it.

After the ceremony was over, Leta and I drove to the church to greet the guests. Leta and dad took turns sitting with Kevin during the afternoon so that I could remain at the reception and receive guests. Later that night and the next day, a handful of out of town guests visited Kevin in the hospital. Visits were brief due to his need for rest; but the visits were a part of the weekend that he will treasure greatly.

As much as we would have enjoyed having the wedding ceremony in the form that we originally planned, we ended the day feeling that what we did was complete and a perfectly accurate reflection of our journey together. As we have thought about the experience, we have both expressed in some form the sense that the most important aspect of the wedding was communicating to the community who we are as a couple and how we commit ourselves to each other. It has also been important to us to communicate with the community our need for their ongoing support and companionship. We accomplished that and felt the community’s presence; and there is no other thing we could really ask for in a wedding. Anything else is icing on the cake.

We would like to share a few moments from the day with those of you who were not able to join us. For anyone who would like to experience the ceremony as our guests experienced it, we have audio available. This audio was recorded in the room where the ceremony took place so is clearer than what the guests heard. The recording begins with my mom placing the call and giving us a list of the guests present. This is the only portion which is unclear. Right click and save to download the ceremony audio.

We also took video in the room. If you prefer to watch, we recommend that you right click and save the video to your computer. The video requires QuickTime. View Sarah and Kevin’s wedding.

As the reception drew to a close, I and a few of the guests gathered around the piano and sang spontaneously. We enjoyed being together and singing; and the music seemed to touch those who heard it. This was a special bonus to the afternoon for me. Download or Blessed Be Your Nname or Mighty to Save. Sarah and her mom also introduced the guests to a round entitled “Praise to the Father” which was fun to sing in the sanctuary. Download round singing.

At the time of this writing, Kevin remains in the hospital. He has enjoyed visits from members of the church community throughout the week. Sometimes his stamina has been low and he has slept while the visitors have talked with me. It has been meaningful to him to know that people are checking on me as well as on him. We hope that he will be released soon. Going home will be a great step forward, but there is still a long road ahead.