I'm Not Crazy (On Hold)

Chapter 1: How It All Started

                                                                          Chapter 1

June 8, 2000

“Henry Chandler and Elizabeth Haley, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

  Henry and Bethany, gazing lovingly in one another’s eyes, answered in perfect unison.

 “Yes.”

  "Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"

  “Yes.”

  "Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

  “Yes.”

 The priest nodded and continued with the holy ceremony.

 “Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church.”

  Henry clasped Bethany’s right hand in his and took a deep breath, feeling the eyes of every person in the room as they witnessed their marriage.

  “I, Henry Jacob Chandler, take you, Elizabeth Marie Haley, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

 Bethany smiled tremulously at the words her soon-to-be-husband said and repeated them back.

  “I, Elizabeth Marie Haley, take you, Henry Jacob Chandler to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

  After the exchange of rings and necessary readings, the priest, a tall man with graying hair and a growing bald spot, declared the famous words that the whole congregation had been waiting for.

  “Henry and Elizabeth, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, the giving of these rings and the joining of your hands, I now declare you to be husband and wife. Congratulations, and you may kiss the bride.”

  ♠○♠○▬○♠○♠ 

 “Congratulations, Bethany!”

 A pretty blonde woman ran over to hug the blushing bride, still clad in her traditionally simple white gown.

 “Thanks, Jen. I still can’t believe that Henry and I are actually married! Everything just seems so…surreal, I guess. Almost like it’s too good to be true."

 Jen laughed, and Bethany joined in. She felt so free, so happy, so joyful. This was her day to shine, and she was enjoying every minute of it.

 “You’re so lucky to have found the man that you are going to spend the rest of your life with so soon. I mean, you just graduated from college! How did you know?”

 Bethany sighed dreamily, remembering the moment she and Henry had first met.

 “I don’t know. When he looked at me, and I at him, it seemed like there was no one else in the room. Everyone else just…disappeared. That’s probably a bad thing, though, because it was in the middle of a lecture from our professor.”

  The two best friends shared another laugh. Jen looked at Bethany’s ring, not hiding the longing she felt for a union just like theirs. Bethany gave her friend a comforting hug and a reassuring smile.