Daily Archives: January 29, 2008

What Inspires You

The Wedding Picture

by Lori Pyne

Be they in magazines, newspapers or photo albums; be they of friends and family, people I know of or strangers; be they black and white images of a yesteryears long gone or colorful digital shots capturing a moments ago, I love to look at them. The bride in her finery, the groom so proud, wedding pictures speak to hopeful, romantic side of my soul.

Some of the images remain in my memory long after I view the portrait. Beyond the memory of cherished friends’ and close family’s special days, and world events such as Princess Diane and Prince Charles’ wedding, a stranger’s newspaper wedding announcement has remained with me years after I first saw the picture.

At first glance, I barely looked at the groom, a Marine, in his distinct blue dress uniform. The bride, her face shining with joy as she gazed up at her groom, caught and held my attention. She looked so young in years, tiny in stature and radiantly in love. I remember worrying about what the future would hold for such a young girl.

I slide my attention to her groom. He stared straight at the camera. My gaze traveled down the short cropped hair towards his square jaw. I jarred to a stop midway down his face. He had no ear. What I had thought to be a shadow on the side of his face, I realized was scar tissue. He had been terribly burned.

This warrior in his twenties has survived his journey through one of the lower levels of hell and had returned to marry the girl who loved him fiercely.

While I know that a marriage is more than a wedding day, each time their faces float to the top of my memory, I pray that they build a strong life together created on the foundation of her joyous love and his proud, strong spirit.

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Lori Pyne is a member of OCC, and a multi-tasking volunteer. She is currently serving as one of our Online Class Moderators, Guest Reception Coordinator and Coordinator for the Book Buyers’ Best Contest for published authors. She is married with one son, and works full time for an entertainment law firm.