Saturday, December 21, 2013

History in the Making.

If you told us yesterday morning that we would be legally married in Utah later that day, we would have laughed and said it to be impossible. I was finishing up some last minute things at work before my break, and Sam was celebrating the holiday with some co-workers. Facebook's newsfeed was blowing up and we both suspected it was all too good to be true and to not believe the hype, despite what everyone was saying. When we arrived home around 3 o'clock, we talked to Taylor because he seemed to know a little more, and we figured we should look into it. After receiving a text from a friend that we should hurry into the clerk's office to apply for a marriage license (thanks Kris), we started looking into that. They wouldn't pick up the phone, so we decided to rush down to the City and County Building, and Taylor decided to join us last minute.

We quickly realized why we couldn't get through on the phone lines. Almost every local news station was there and there was a lesbian couple being interviewed holding up their license! Our hearts began to beat a little faster and we started to shake. We quickly began filling out the application. While standing in line, Jim Dabakis and his future husband were right behind us.



*Sidenote: Sam's wedding ring was stolen just 3 months after we were married, so Sam hasn't had it for the majority of our marriage. I made arrangements with Sam's dad to have it remade and sent to Utah just this last Wednesday, obviously not knowing that this event would take place.

While still in line to sign the papers, I awkwardly pulled out the wedding ring and said, "I was going to wait to give this to you, but…" and slipped it halfway on Sam's finger while getting pushed aside by all the news stations interviewing Jim and being asked by another sweet couple if we could take their picture. Sam had to slip it the rest of the way on, and even though it wasn't the most romantic moment to give her the ring, it was fitting.

After showing our I.D.'s, paying the $40, and signing under "Mr. and Mrs." (they haven't been able to change that yet), we moved downstairs where the crowd continued to grow. After we got the papers, we were told we needed to make it really official by having a licensed marriage officiator perform the technical speech and we needed two witnesses, and signatures and all that. We only had one potential witness with us, so we planned to wait until early January so we could plan a little more.






As we stepped off the elevator to leave, we saw a minister waiting to do free marriages. There were people all around, so anyone could have been our second witness, and as another couple stepped up, we realized we didn't have to wait either. As we were standing there, debating if we really wanted this stranger of a minister to marry us, one of my student's dads came to mind. He had told us he performed marriages, and I immediately started to try and find his number, which was not proving successful. Fate dealt us some luck and literally minutes later, his husband, Manuel, walked through the doors next to us! Shortly after, Kamrin and the kids showed up. We couldn't have planned it any better. The conversation went something like this:

Elise: "Kamrin, can you marry us?"
Kamrin: "Yes, of course!"
Elise: "Like, right now?"

Kamrin grabbed both of our arms and said, "Let's go stand over here by this Christmas tree."
He performed the short and sweet ceremony, and then asked if we had any words. Sam said a few awkward things about how she wished she wasn't wearing her ugly Santa sweater, which made us all laugh, but then she brought it back by telling me how much she loved me. She almost kissed me right then, but then realized we had to wait when Kamrin stopped us. He said those words: "You may now kiss the bride," and we did…while crying. We all hugged, he signed our marriage certificate, we signed, Manuel signed, and Taylor signed. We walked upstairs, turned in our form, and that was it! We were married, officially!

file:///Users/Razzeel57/Downloads/photo.php.html





We would have loved to have had all of our loved ones there, but it was so perfect how spontaneously it all happened. The energy and emotions were ridiculously high, and we got to be a part of history. We have been waiting for this day for 8 years, and thought we'd make it legal in Seattle, several months from now. We still can't believe it happened in Utah.




Words can't describe how we felt, but I think our faces say it all. We celebrated with a few friends over dinner, and felt an overwhelming amount of love from calls, texts, and Facebook posts. We are overwhelmed by all the updates and wish we could personally hug every one of you who likes a post or makes a comment. Thank you!!! We know how lucky we are. December 20th, 2013 will be a day to remember.

5 comments:

  1. Okay, I'm bawling. So sweet and awesome! I am so happy for you! Love you two!!!

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  2. God meant it to be with the timing of the ring, the friend to officiate and all. So proud of you both, trail blazing pioneers!

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  3. What a wonderful story! Congratulations to both Mrs. Lemonheads. :)

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  4. OMG this is beautiful!!
    Tears of joy & happiness here-congratulations!
    Hugs, Miguel

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  5. So, so, so awesome!! Thank you for posting your story. :)

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