The Miracle and the Wedding

We went to a wedding reception this afternoon.  But this was no ordinary wedding event.

When I first met the bride, Jen, she was in her 30's and she had anorexia....very very badly.

RAH and I used to exercise where she did and she was D.R.I.V.E.N.  She would be there before we arrived and still be doing the elliptical when we left.  She went hard, fast, and furious.  For two hours, according to her mother.

I was at a couple of functions where food was part of the event.  I never saw her eat.  She said she had just eaten or wasn't hungry or would eat later.

She was literally skin and bones.

On the final Sunday before she entered rehab, she stood to  make a comment in relief society.  Her words were slurred, she was a sort of greenish color and she could hardly stand.

Just before she went north, her home-teacher (RAH) gave her a blessing.  In the blessing, he asked for a miracle.

She hated it in the rehab center.  She called her mother, she wanted OUT.  She would get well, she said, but on her own.  Her mother never wavered.  So Jen stayed the required time.

And, then, we moved.

And, her mother invited us for lunch.  It was then we saw her....could it possibly even be the same Jen?  She was actually a tiny bit plumpish around the face and middle; it was an incredible, almost unbelievable sight.

She went back to teaching and got a Master's Degree.  Occasionally, I would see her in the temple.  Always smiling and happy, especially when she shared with  me the news...she was engaged.

And today, healing and happy, Jen - wearing her mother's wedding dress - was sealed in the temple.

I became emotional as the couple danced the first dance while the music played, May I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life.

Because, you see, I knew that long-ago blessing was answered.

That, and the faithful prayers over many years of a marvelous mother, who never gave up hope for her daughter's recovery and happiness.

What a beautiful bride you make, Jen.

Here's to your happiness over many many years.