Wedding Bells at The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine
It’s not every day we celebrate the marriage of one of our residents in our facilities, but last spring, The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine was able to give a special couple a fairy tale wedding in the onsite chapel.
Danny and Merrye met on Match.com in 2007. Having both been in previous marriages and having families of their own, they instantly got along and had a lot of things in common.
After dating for several years, they decided it was time to get a house together. They found a home they loved in Lakeville, Minn., but to make it handicap accessible to accommodate Danny’s disabilities, the house would need some improvements before they could move in. While the house was being remodeled, Danny needed a place to stay that would accommodate his needs and provide him with his necessary therapies, which is how he found The Lutheran Home Campus in Belle Plaine. He was a temporary resident in The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine’s transitional care unit (TCU) and received care there while their house was completed.
As is standard procedure with the chaplaincy programs within The Lutheran Home Association’s (TLHA) facilities, new residents are given the option to sit down with the onsite chaplain to discuss their current situation, health needs and if there are things in their life they’d like to address.
“I find it helpful for our residents to be able to relate to me their life experiences, where we have a time to reflect on what Jesus has done for them,” said Pastor Ed Fredrich, chaplain of the Belle Plaine Campus.
Pastor Fredrich met with Danny to get to know him better and talk about things in his life he’s proud of, as well as what he’d still like to accomplish in life. For Danny, it was marrying Merrye.
Danny said Merrye had stood by him over the years, and one of the things he wish he’d done was marry her. Pastor Fredrich then asked, “Why don’t you?”
Two days later on May 8, 2014, Danny and Merrye were married.
“It was kind of spur of the moment, but I thought we should get married right here instead of having a wedding somewhere else,” Danny said.
The wedding ceremony was officiated by Pastor Fredrich in The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine’s chapel and was complete with beautiful flowers, a wedding cake and of course, the happy couple along with their Chihuahua, Molly. Wedding guests included nursing home staff and nursing students from a local college, and fellow residents were able to partake in the celebration by eating cake after the ceremony. A short lunch reception followed at nearby Kingsway Retirement Living, all compliments of The Lutheran Home Campus.
“The ceremony was fantastic, all the people that showed up and the flowers, cake and everything else they did for us,” Danny said. “We didn’t need a big shindig, it was just right.”
The chaplaincy program at The Lutheran Home’s Belle Plaine Campus is what made this wedding possible. The chaplaincy programs at TLHA allow an opportunity for residents to speak with pastors about issues or concerns in their life they’d like to resolve. In the case of Danny and Merrye, staying in the TCU at the nursing home and experiencing its chaplaincy program showed them a new beginning for something wonderful.
“Stories like these are just one example of the spiritual care provided within our organization,” said Pastor Joel Gaertner, vice president of ministry at TLHA. “Not only do we focus our attention on the physical care of our residents, everything we do revolves around first and foremost the care of the soul.”