Posted by Associated Press/AP Online on
Leo Tate never took his eyes off his bride, Annie Lee. Beside them, Donna Mathis cried as she said her vows to James Nelson Jr.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Leo Tate never took his eyes off his bride, Annie Lee. Beside them, Donna Mathis cried as she said her vows to James Nelson Jr.
Less than two weeks after surviving Hurricane Katrina, the couples were married at Northside Tri-Ethnic Community Center here Friday night. They are among 205,000 refugees staying in shelters and private housing in Texas.
"We were thinking how we needed something to rejoice in, something to cry happy tears over," Mathis said. "This is a way to make our lives normal. We can start our lives over, and we'll be together."
The double wedding was arranged in just two days by shelter volunteer Annie Alvarez, who persuaded businesses and individuals to donate everything from bridal gowns and bouquets to wedding night rooms at an upscale Fort Worth hotel.
For Lee and Tate, the wedding was 27 years in the making. The pair were high-school sweethearts in New Orleans and later had a son, but the timing never seemed right to tie the knot.
Tate married and had a daughter, then got divorced. Lee got married but became a widow, then married a second time and divorced. The two dated in between their other relationships.
"When I wasn't with her, it was, `Where is she?' I missed her all of my life," said Tate, 47, a former baker. "This time, there's no one and nothing getting in our way."
After reuniting again in June, Tate and Lee decided to marry in December. But then Katrina hit, sending water into their house so fast they barely made it to the attic in time.
They were rescued and taken by boat to the Superdome, where they spent five days sleeping outside on cardboard to avoid the horrible stench inside.
Last week, they arrived at the Fort Worth shelter and quickly bonded with the 70 or so other staying there. They decided to marry in front of the people they now call family.
On Thursday, they scraped together $41 for the marriage license and found a judge who waived the three-day waiting period.
"We've done been through enough, and if we can get through (the hurricane), then marriage is the easy part," said Lee, a former housekeeper who won't reveal her age.
Mathis, 27, and Nelson, 22, had been friends in their native New Orleans for two years and started dating seriously earlier this year. They got to the Superdome before the hurricane hit, then spent several days there with little food or water.
They arrived in Fort Worth last week, but Mathis' 2-year-old daughter was in another part of Louisiana with the child's father. Shelter workers finally located her a few days ago.
Mathis said once baby Sabria was back in her arms - Mathis' 13-year-old daughter Brianesha was already with her in Texas - she decided the wedding couldn't wait.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online