Danny is a 39 year old ex-con, with a few piercings and jail-house tattoos. Shelia is a 42 year old blond with a sweet disposition, but no job skills. Over the last three years, I have watched them date and then break up, watched them float in and out of housing – never very stable housing, but housing none the less – and watched them struggle with the daily stresses that come with trying to stay together despite the pain and stigma that comes with being homeless in the US.
Call me a romantic if you want, but they are ridiculously cute together. He always carries her bag for her. She wears flowers in her hair he picked in the park. He asks her opinion on big (and small) decisions. They are, by any definition, in love with each other.
Back in May, they went to the courthouse and got legally married. For the next week, they showed that marriage license off like it was the holy grail – they were so proud of it.
Shelia comes to me a few weeks later and asked me if I would do her a favor. “All little girls dream about their wedding day”, she said. “I was wondering if you could help us get married in a church, with music and walking down the aisle and everything”.
Which is why this Thursday night, thanks to the hospitality of Hillyer Memorial Church, Danny and Shelia are getting married, with music and walking down the aisle and a preacher (that would be me) and everything. Our good friend (and associate minister at Hillyer) Allison took Shelia shopping last week for a wedding dress – they got one at Goodwill that was over the top with acres of lace and full sleeves. Shelia called it a “princess dress”.
After the ceremony, we are throwing a reception for them here at the Love Wins offices, with a wedding cake, butter mints (a special request), cupcakes, and punch. And, if we can swing it, a few nights at a decent hotel for a honeymoon of sorts.
The swinging it part is where you come in. You can make a strong argument that this is not going to help anyone long-term and thus is not worthy of your support. But if that is your argument, then you have missed the point of what we are doing out here. Things like dignity, respect and love are damned hard to find out here – some days they are completely hidden. So when we find them, I want to encourage them any way I can. And if that means spending a couple of hundred dollars to make sure a couple who has the entire deck stacked against them have a few days where they feel ridiculously loved, I am willing to do that. I hope you are too.
If you are local and want to help us put the reception on or help with the wedding, email me and let me know. And if all you can do is send us a few dollars, I hope you will, because we need some financial help to make this happen.
If you want to help us pay for this, please go to our donate page or click on the donate button below. And if you can’t do anything but pray for them, go ahead and do that – they are going to need it.
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Hugh,
I’d be honored to do Sheila’s makeup. Email me!
Anissa
I have a free night coupon for a Hilton hotel. That could give them 1 night at least. Please email me if you would like me to set this up. I dont know how much the rooms cost, but I’d be happy to help with the cost of an additional night or two.
Howard – your email address as I have it is un-deliverable. Can you email me at hugh@lovewins.info? Thanks!
We will be there and can bring flowers for her and a vase with some for the reception table. Would you like any kind of fruit, nuts, or snacks? We can bring a snack.
I donated a little through the donate button to help out with the reception. I’m hoping Micah and I will be able to make it there too. Yes, it’s a celebration of what’s positive, and hopeful, and lovely in all of us, even when we’re “down and out.” Beautiful. I think it’s just as important as giving food or support for more physical needs. Love it!