Love Stories - Circle of Light

Married at Circle of Light on June 2, 2011

Darleen and David Riffle

Darleen speaks: I was unhappily married for 16 years to a man who suffered from severe depression. I couldn't live that way, so I divorced and moved to another town. With two young children, ages nine and three, I was determined to find happiness and vowed that I would never ever live with such sadness again. I painted our new home a happy yellow, bought the kids new bikes and a puppy, and did what I could to be happy in spite of the pain of the situation.

Four years after the divorce, my kids and I went to a Mardi Gras parade. A float went by and a man, dressed as a hillbilly wearing a long bushy beard and floppy hat, got off his float and danced down the street, kicking up his heels and shouting, "Yee-Haw!" I saw such happiness on this man's face--that is, what little I could see of his face with the bushy beard and floppy hat--that it touched my heart. I silently prayed, "See God? I want you to send me a man just like that! A man who is happy! A man who wants to be in a parade!" This "yee-hawing" man went right on down the street, throwing beads and moon pies into the audience, and holding hands with a little boy walking along beside him. And that was the end of that. Or so I thought.

Darleen and David Riffle

About a year and a half year later, I went to an outdoor concert. My girlfriends who were supposed to come with me, didn't show up, and I was all by myself. A man came along and introduced himself as David. We started talking and found out that we went to the same church, sat in the same service (our church had three services), and even sat on the same side of the sanctuary, but had never met.

Then this man asked me if I ever went to the parades in our town. I told him that I loved the parades and took my children to a lot of them. He asked if we ever went to the Mardi Gras parades. He then said I'd probably seen him in these parades because he participated every year. He said that one year, he'd dressed up as a hillbilly. Instantly, I remembered that hillbilly and the exact prayer I had prayed for God to send me a man "just like that man!" My mouth dropped open.

I said, "Did you get off your float and dance down the street?" He looked just as surprised as I must have looked and said, "Yes! You have a really good memory!" I asked, "Did you wear a long bushy beard that went down to your knees and a floppy hat with a hole in it?" Again, he looked shocked and said, "Yes!" I said, "You didn't happen to hold hands with a little boy as you walked down the street, did you?" His eyes grew big as baseballs. "Yes! That was my girlfriend's little boy...but we broke up a long time ago." Of course, I didn't say a word about that silent prayer I had prayed, but a month later, he showed me a photo of himself dressed as that hillbilly! A few months after that, he proposed.

Now--after four years of happy, happy dating and enjoying life together--we decided to celebrate our wonderful happiness by getting married at the Circle of Light Wedding Chapel in Eureka Springs! I've found my genuinely happy man who still participates in parades but now has extra helpers--my kids and me! (One year we dressed as hippies, another as Roman gods & goddesses, another as the Beatles and we even made a 16-foot yellow submarine in our garage and won "Best Theme Float" and a trophy!) We love being together and being so happy. And I know, without a doubt, that God answers the prayers that come from the deepest part of our heart. David is my answer to prayer and my lifetime partner in happiness!

Shanna's note: Darleen Bailey Beard is an author of books for children. Read about her at oklahomachildrensauthors.com.

Mary and Gerald Thibodeaux (with Tayte and Sayhra) renewed their Wedding Vows on April 25, 2011 at Circle of Light

Mary and Gerald 25 years ago

From Mary:
"Seems like only yesterday I met my high school sweetheart, Gerald. We were only 17 and 18. I met Gerald at a high school football game and started off as friends and then eventually started dating. We have been a couple since. Funny thing is that the night we met, the guy I wanted to talk to was his cousin and they look exactly alike! I thought that night I was talking to his cousin. I only learned the next day that the handsome man I had been talking to was Gerald. We still laugh about that today, but God had our hearts and spirits spoken for already.

"We married after being together for almost 7 years. I gave birth to our oldest child, Tayte on July 2nd 1994 then exactly to the date, July 2nd our daughter Sayhra was born in 1996. We can say we had our twins four years apart. We have learned so much together through the years. It was not an easy road and at one point when our son was four years old we did file for divorce. We separated for about 7 months and the day the divorce papers came in, we did not sign them and chose to work things out. As I said before, God had our road planned already. All we had to do was follow our hearts. We renewed our vows shortly after reuniting from the separation in 1998 then decided again to renew our vows at Circle of Light in April of 2011. We strongly believe in renewal of vows as it brings a new light into the original vows taken. I am blessed with a loving husband and two wonderful children.

Mary and Gerald Thibodeaux (with Tayte and Sayhra)

Renewing their vows on April 25, 2011

"Marriage is work………..you must respect your husband and teach him to respect you. We do not always agree and we do not have the perfect story, but we never ponder on the past, as those moments are looked at as a learning path to get where we are today. A strong marriage can go through the bad times just a well as the good times. We never went to marriage counseling. We only matured and stopped being selfish. We listen to the other person, then compromise to find the happy medium to make it work. Many friends I have want me to clone my husband for them, but I tell them that there is no person out there that comes as he is. When one does not know the history of our marriage, they assume we have just always been this way. Would I do it all over again if knew what we would go through? you may ask. That is an easy easy YES!!! He completes me as a person and I truly know and believe that both of us would not be the people we are today without each other in their lives. He is a witness to my life and best friend!!!!"

married at Circle of Light on Saturday February 12, 2011

It was October 9th, 2008 and I was in my office when I received an email from an old friend. It was a simple one, stating; "Hey, this is Kaye Curtis (Gammill) from high school, do you remember me?" Immediately, I began to remember some really great times that our "group" in high school had had. There was a small group of us that were pals, ran around together, and had some crazy, fun times. Secretly, I had a crush on Kaye during those days, however, she was going steady with a friend, so, it would not have been right for me to pursue those feelings.

And now, 39 years later, the first email. Writing back, I said that I did remember her and asked how she had been doing. That was how it started. It was not my first time to receive an email from someone I'd not heard of or seen in many years, but it would turn out to be my most memorable. Several hundred emails and hours long phone conversations later, we decided it was time to meet in person again.

We were both concerned about having a long distance relationship and were both concerned that we had both been married and divorced twice. However our talks had shown us that what we were experiencing was something unlike we had ever been through. Our lives had been so parallel, sometimes, freakishly. Our likes and dislikes so similar. The ease of the conversation.

In November of that year was the first time I told her I loved her. I didn't get a response. I knew I was ahead of her. The first meeting had been put off once but was now on again. We would meet in Little Rock, take in a Concert and go out to dinner and see where that led us. We were both scared, hoping and praying the one or the other would not be disappointed. Because of all we had been through in our lives, we had decided that if this wasn't "IT", then "IT" did not exist and we were through. After all, we both had decided years ago that we were through with the whole love and marriage thing, and living 350 miles apart, how could it work out anyway? It would be at least 3 years of long distance dating before I could retire. But, no matter what, 3 years was going to pass by anyway and what if we didn't give ourselves a chance, what if this was it and we didn't take the opportunity and 3 years passed by.

Well, we did take the chance. And in doing so, we found "True Love." Kaye honored me by saying; "yes" when I asked her to be my Wife in October. We began to look for a place to have our wedding. After looking at several venues, we chose a beautiful location outside of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, called; "Circle of Light Wedding Chapel". Shanna, Yael and Doug are wonderful. The Ceremony was sweet, meaningful and spiritual. It was perfect. All of our guests were amazed at the location and the service.

So from 1969 to 2008, the lives of Kaye and me were simply preparation for our lives beyond October 9th, 2008. The time is right for us. We are truly "In Love" and grow more so every day. I'll soon retire and move to Harrison where we can live this life in each other's arms every day.

Much Love to all of you,

Kaye Curtis Taylor and TJ Taylor