The rest of the story

I can't tell just half of this, so I am in for the whole thing.

We decided to get married on April 9th. No big ceremony or celebration. We had both been married before, so it was just set the date and go see the judge.

On Sunday the 4th of April, we were visiting with L and her hubby. L was pregnant at the time, but she told us that she thought something was wrong. The baby had not moved that day. She was going to go in the next day and get checked out.

The news was not good. They could detect no signs of life. This was on Monday.

On Tuesday they ran tests, and came to the conclusion that the baby was dead.

They took the baby on Wednesday. I was there, as was her mother. She delivered a perfectly normal baby, except for the fact that it was dead. No abnormalities, no birth defects, nothing to indicate why it wasn't alive.

I held it in my arms and cried.

Mrs A and I went out into the hallway, and I held her in my arms as she cried "Why?" She railed against God and asked him why he would take this barely begun life.

This was on April the 8th. We were to be married the next day.

After things settled down, we talked. If a thing is the right thing to do, it is the right thing to do, regadless of the impediments.

We spent the night in the hospital room with L. Got up the next morning, went home and showered and went to meet the judge.

We got married despite all the other stuff. I think we did the right thing, and I would do it again. We faced a challenge to what we believed, and we persevered.

We had talked about adversity and said "You have a coice in life. You can take the easy route, or you can take a different route. We realize that things may get crazy, but if you ride the roller-coaster you will be OK as long as you hang on tight in the corners."

We are still hanging on, and there are lots of corners.

After five years, we are still together, and it is a testament to our love.