Alex

Married to a Stranger
2011-11-09 12:16:43 (UTC)

Jessica

The three adjectives that came to mind when I first saw Jessica were "young, petite, and timid". But the thing that caught me attention the most was the fact that she is in a wheelchair. Sitting there huddled under the awning of the courthouse against the cool rain wearing her gray hoody, jeans, and white tshirt, she looked very young - younger than my daughters.

After the rather awkward introductions were over, we went to a small cafe on the square and had lunch and talked. For three hours.

Jessica's story is definitely sad. I consider myself pretty good at looking at situations from a non-emotional point of view. As much as I wanted to help her, I did not want to marry someone out of pity. Nor did I want her to marry me as a means of escape.

I have a tendency to carry a spiral notebook around with me to jot things in. We took turns writing questions for each other and then answering not only the other person's but our own. Most were your typical "what is your favorite color and food", "where is your dream vacation spot", etc. Jessica had some rather pointed and sometimes embarrassing questions.

In the end, and about an hour before the courthouse closed, we decided to take the risk and get married.

Jessica obviously had planned on this; she had her birth certificate. $125 later we had our license. There are a couple of wedding chapels in town, and luckily one of them was willing to accomodate an impromptu wedding for two. Jessica wanted to get married in what we had on; I argued for buying a wedding dress and renting a tuxedo. Her argument was why spend the money on a dress she is only going to wear once.

We compromised on her buying a wedding gown that was on sale at David's Bridal for $100 and my wearing the suit I had on.

By the end of the day we spent $500 including the wedding chapel. Dinner consisted of Olive Garden - Jessica's favorite restaraunt.

Then we went home. Our home. I can't believe we did this.




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