Carlyn Morenus and Keith Barnett
celebrate Marriage!
November 9, 2007
Carlyn Morenus and Keith Barnettcelebrate Marriage!November 9, 2007 | |
Carlyn and Keith (hereinafter referred to as “we”!) first met via eharmony, matched on August 21, 2006. The eharmony process does a good job of screening potential matches for compatibility, and in this case we found a great deal we each liked in the other. We share love of classical music, playing the piano, cats, cooking, chocolate, books, nature, hiking, playing games, time with family . . . a wide range of common ground! We also found shared values, and just plain liked each other!
So we began emailing regularly, with the understanding that given the 670 miles between us (Carlyn in Illinois, Keith in North Carolina), romance wasn’t a practical idea. Friends, on the other hand, can be everywhere! And just a short while later, we discovered the incredible coincidence that our fathers were childhood playmates, and our grandparents were good friends, long ago in Atlanta, Georgia! What are the odds of that?! Of course this made us more interested than ever in meeting someday. But 'someday' had to wait quite a while. Carlyn finished a fall semester of teaching, went off on sabbatical concert tours in Asia and Europe, then in late April we finally met face to face when Keith drove up to Illinois. We instantly felt comfortable together – after all, we’d been emailing for months – and also felt sparks of something more than just friendship. So we engineered opportunities for time together – Carlyn went to North Carolina for the Memorial Day weekend, Keith came to Illinois to help out when Carlyn had eye surgery in June, Carlyn spent 3 weeks in North Carolina in July-August, culminating in our engagement on August 5th.
Then Keith spent a month in Illinois after school began, so we could experience
working life together, went back to North Carolina for a long 3 weeks in October
to close up the house, move the cats, visit relatives, etc., and then moved
to Illinois for real. We married on November 9 in a private courtroom ceremony
in Bloomington, IL, but we do want to share our joy with our friends and family,
so here are photos for you – view as many as you care to!
We have come here today to celebrate the union in marriage of Keith Barnett and Carlyn Morenus. As we begin this ceremony, let us reflect upon its meaning and share in the joy of this happy couple. Marriage is one of the most important obligations that any two people undertake in their lifetime. Marriage sometimes brings great challenges to overcome, but in return for those chalenges, you will be supported, strengthened, and uplifted by your love for each other. Every marriage has its ups and downs, and yours will be no exception. But if you work at it, if you are truly committed to one another and to your marriage, you will find that your lives will be truly blessed. The vows which you are about to exchange serve as a verbal representation of the love you pledge to each other. It is not the words you speak today which will bond you together as one, but the inner sense of love and commitment that each of you feels within your heart.
Keith, do you take Carlyn as your beloved wife, to share your life with her? Do you promise that you will love her, honor her, and care for her, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in good times and bad, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall live?
Carlyn repeated the same vows, really she did, but we don't have a matching photo.
We will now seal your vows in the giving of rings. The wedding ring is an unbroken circle which symbolizes unending and everlasting love and is a visible symbol which represents your inner commitment to each other. May your love forever remain as bright and unbroken as these rings.
It was a chilly afternoon, around 40 degrees and windy, but we did want some photos afterwards. Keith definitely had the advantage!
