My brother has searched for true love his whole life, looking for that happily ever after ending. In the past, Jeremy had dated some sweet women, and once he even got engaged, buy one of those dazzling engagement rings to mark the event, but eventually, they realized they weren’t meant to be, so they decided to break up.
We were all surprised when he introduced us to his new neighbor, Emily, who lived right next door to him. Quickly after meeting, they fell in love. Emily had a young son whom Jeremy treated as his own. After what seemed like forever (which was actually only a few months), Jeremy proposed to Emily with a delicious sugar cookie that asked, “Will you marry me?” They got engaged last October and set a wedding date for June of 2010; little did they realize that they would be getting married much earlier than summer.
In January of this year, Jeremy found out that he had a large heart aneurism, and that he needed emergency surgery. Because he is very athletic and young (in his 30s), the doctors were quite shocked about his condition. The doctors recommended that my brother and his fiance have an “emergency wedding”. That way, it would be legal for my sister-in-law to take care of him after his open-heart surgery and she could be with him in the ICU during his hospital stay.
Jeremy and Emily tied the knot in early February. Only direct family members attended the small, bittersweet ceremony; there were 20 attendees in all. There was not a dry eye in the whole church especially during their vows of “in sickness and health”. A couple of weeks later, Jeremy had his open-heart surgery. If he hadn’t had the surgery when he did, doctors say that the aneurism would have burst within a year and that Jeremy would have died. Fortunately, the surgery was a great success and my brother is alive and healthy today.
Four months later, June arrived and Jeremy and Emily were ready to joyfully renew their vows in front of 225 family members and close friends. After the “second” ceremony, we all went to the beautiful reception hall which was decorated in pink and white roses. After eating an delicious dinner, Jeremy surprised everyone with a heartfelt slideshow of Emily and him when they were little, and how far they’ve come over the years. Again, there wasn’t a dry eye to be found. During the dance, the floor was packed. We danced to songs like “Party in the USA”, “California Gurls”, and even “OMG”. until 1:00 a.m. At the end of night, we all videotaped special messages meant for the happy couple and congratulated them one more time. Thank God for true love and miracles!