Our Small Piece of this World 

 

Ingrid J. Melenbacker - John A. DeLaura

Amy Lynn DeLaura - J. Art DeLaura

Georgiana and Willow

 

Our wedding day was set for June 28, 1997.  It was to be held on the Odyssey - Washington's Premier, Fine Dining Yacht.  Our ceremony to be performed by the captain of the vessel.

OH BUT LO AND BEHOLD! 

On Friday, May 23, Ingrid fell down a  flight of stairs and seriously sprained her ankle, which immediately swelled to the size of a regulation football.

John took Ingrid to the urgent care clinic where her foot was x-rayed and a hairline fracture was found.  She was issued a pair of crutches and released.

On Sunday, May 25, John began to suffer from abdominal pain and it continued to become progressively more severe throughout the week. 

On Wednesday, May 28, John (from his office) was speaking to Ingrid (from her home).  They were discussing the details for the upcoming wedding that seemed to continually grow more complicated and more costly.  As the conversation continued, they arrived at the revelation that they should just forget the fancy ceremony and elope.  Immediately, John conferenced in the Fairfax County Courthouse to get information on how to get married.  We were transferred to a Marriage Celebrant and found that there was an opening at 2 PM that Friday.  We talked about it (for about 10 seconds) and made the decision to do it! 

For months, we had been looking for rings.  We must have visited two dozen jewelry stores.  Wednesday night we finally bought two simple bands to have for the ceremony.  We then rushed out to look at one more store before it closed.  That’s when we found the rings we were looking for.  The rings were very unique and had to be ordered so we knew we would not have them for the wedding.  We ordered them and continued our preparations for our wedding.  

Thursday morning John was in such pain they went to the local urgent care clinic.  After an examination and a few tests the doctor referred him to the local emergency room suspecting appendicitis.  They arrive at the hospital about 9:45 AM.  Examinations and testing began within the hour.  After 7 hours of extensive examinations, testing and blood work, a nurse entered John's room, handed him a small cup of medication and had him drink it.  Within 20 minutes he was feeling much better and was released from the hospital.  The cup contained Maalox  antacid and anti-gas medication. I guess he was just a little tense about the wedding.

Ingrid had been very specific about the floral content of the bouquet she wanted and John relayed the information to the florist earlier that week.  Friday morning John was running around picking up the flowers and wheelchair for Ingrid.  Meanwhile Ingrid was also trying to get ready.  She had been renting the basement apartment in a woman's home who was in the same graduate program as Ingrid.  The roof had leaked severely and there were plasterers and painters working in the home repairing the damage while Ingrid was hobbling around with her broken foot trying to dress for the wedding. 

John and the children arrived to pick up Ingrid and they were off to the court house.  Upon arrival John got the wheelchair out and helped Ingrid into it.  He wheeled her around to the back of the car and handed her the bouquet of flowers.  She immediately threw them back into the car yelling "I will not carry those flowers on my wedding day!"  Apparently the florist had substituted orange carnations for orange lilies.  Carnations have always reminded Ingrid of funerals and she was very upset that, after her explicit instructions, carnations were included in her wedding bouquet.  She finally salvaged some white lilies from the bouquet and decided to carry those.

John began pushing her wheelchair toward  the court house.  As they crossed the street and started up the ramp to the sidewalk, the front wheels caught on the edge of the ramp and the wheelchair tipped forward.  Ingrid yelled "Your not getting rid of me that easily!" and held on to the wheel chair as John righted it.

They met with the Marriage Celebrant and had a quiet little ceremony with Ingrid, John, Amy and Art.  Art and Amy blew bubbles at the end of the ceremony and Ingrid and John began their lives as a married couple.

It's hard to believe that the last time I updated this section, the children were as you see to the left!  Art is now a Senior at VA Tech.  He is majoring in history.  For his Senior year he is Drum Major for the VA Tech Corp of Cadets Regimental Band (The Highty Tighties).  Art performs for Gubernatorial and Presidential Inaugurations and in special holiday parades like Mardi Gras and Thanksgiving Day.  He is in the Air Force ROTC and plans to be a career Air Force Officer.  After retirement, Art plans to be a teacher.

Amy is a Senior in high school.  Since the sixth grade she has been very active in the school's drama department.  Amy has recently completed an acting program at the John Robert Powers Academy including basic television, improvisation and situation comedy.  In 2004, Amy took the top prize in the National American Miss Acting Competition against a field of over 70 participants.  Her ambition is to become a film director.  Amy is currently directing the school's fall play, Shakespeare's "A Mid Summer's Night Dream"

New Updates - July, 2011

Art has graduated from VA Tech, Commissioned as a 2nd Lietenant into the Air Force and married his high school sweetheart, Kacie.  They are currently living in New Mexico and having a ball.

Amy will be starting her Junior year at Old Dominion University, studying marketing and working as a photographer.

Here are some more images of our "kids".