When I (Kelli) walked thru those doors and saw the expression on Nichole’s face, it was everything! She was very emotional. Seeing her standing there knowing she was about to be my wife made everything we went through worth it. My son gave me away and kissed us both on the cheek before he took his place behind me. As soon as Nichole and I were hand in hand she kissed me immediately. Nichole’s brother officiated the wedding. He separated us and said “whoa it’s not that time yet” and everyone started laughing. I am not a person of many emotions and Nichole kept saying she had a surprise for me that would surely make me cry. During the ceremony, Nichole had our favorite poet “The Poetry Teacher” recite a poem she had written for us of our story from the beginning up until our day, and that poem indeed brought me to tears. After we said I DO and kissed (again), we danced down the aisle to Anthony Hamilton’s song “Best of Me”. After about 45 minutes of amazing photos taken by Fairy Tale Photography, we entered the reception area as Mrs. & Mrs. Benson where our family and friends cheered us on. The Continued on page 57
44 GWM / Fall 2015