Laura Mardovich, who lost former husband Ed on Sept. 11, gets married to family friend Robert Balemian at St. Patrick's Church in Huntington, L.I. - N.Y. Post: Mary McLoughlin Posted on 04/14/2002 1:03:20 AM PDT by alisasny
9/11 WIDOW REMARRIES
| Laura Mardovich, who lost former husband Ed on Sept. 11, gets married to family friend Robert Balemian at St. Patrick's Church in Huntington, L.I. - N.Y. Post: Mary McLoughlin |
Wearing white and beaming broadly, Laura Mardovich married family friend Robert Balemian Friday.
People exchange their wedding vows every day, but what is unusual about this marriage is that Laura is a Sept. 11 widow - perhaps the first to remarry.
The priest who pronounced Laura and Robert man and wife saw their union as an uplifting sign for a parish that lost 18 people in the terrorist attacks - a sign that Laura is moving on with her life.
But to some friends and relatives, seven months is a short time to grieve - and they are stunned by the marriage.
Their feelings are all the more intense because Laura, 41, and her first husband, Ed Mardovich, 42, had what by all accounts was a storybook union.
He was the president of the securities division of Euro Brokers, a thriving investment firm, and the couple and their four children lived in tony Lloyd Harbor on Long Island's North Shore.
"They were a dream couple with beautiful children," said Robert Nogrady, a longtime friend.
The night before the attacks, Laura and Ed celebrated their 16th anniversary at Alain Ducasse, the exclusive Manhattan restaurant.
Afterward, Laura recalled that for the first time she could remember, Ed seemed satisfied with his life.
"Nothing compares to that night we had," she said. "He just had that look, like, ‘Maybe I am kind of special.' We said we would remember that night when we're 80 years old."
But it was not to be.
The next morning Ed went to his office on the 84th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. When the first hijacked plane ripped into the WTC's north tower, Ed called Laura on his cell phone to say he was safe.
He never came home - one of 60 Euro Brokers employees to die on Sept. 11.
After Ed's death, Laura changed.
"You could tell she was moving on," Nogrady said.
She closed out the family's brokerage account without saying goodbye to Nogrady, who handled it.
"I was a little hurt," he said.
She didn't return calls from relatives, who interpreted this as meaning she didn't want reminders of the past.
And she began seeing Balemian, a family friend and a widower with a child.
The couple got married at St. Patrick's Church in Huntington and toasted their union at a reception at the Waldorf-Astoria. They left on their honeymoon yesterday.
The Rev. Steve Berbig, who performed the marriage ceremony, said it is common for widows and widowers to remarry quickly because they are used to being married.
"Widows remarrying is routine - but this was a little more special. It was uplifting and positive for everyone around.
"There was an understood silence of what happened before," but the wedding's focus was "the present and now," Berbig said.
"As a priest, I was so happy for this couple. It was a great personal experience for me. People were very happy for them."
One relative, however, was anything but happy. "I don't understand," she said. "I can see her wanting to go on with her life. I always wanted her to remarry, but I never thought she would do it this way."
There is also the old fashioned taboo of not wearing black to a wedding either. Guess what? It's the color of choice here in the Northeast, but not for the reasons you think. It's a slimming color. My MIL used to be horrified at the sea of black she used to see at weddings, until she tried it herself, and realized she looked at 20lbs lighter.
That's exactly what I do. One dies, you go to the pound and get another.
"Grief Stricken Widow Has Antidote On Hand For Such Emergency"....
Ever say the words "Till death do us part"? Did you add and a year following that also? Betrayal? How? The vows were honored. Denial? That would be getting up and fixing hubby's breakfast in the morning and telling the kids daddy will be home afterwhile. She saw true reality and horor of horrors. I doubt seriously she denies her husband is dead. I doubt she denies the grief she will carry for years to come. Each person is different in time frames of dealing with death. Some remarry soon, some never re-marry. Neither is wrong.
BTW if you notice they were married in the church with the churches blessing. Most all denominations reqire counceling before marriage. Our preacher was my wife's preacher. A die hard Baptist pew jumping country preacher. My wife omn our wedding day nearly called it off because of her sorry excuse for parents. Thankfully a Nun talked to her and said we married.
Like I posted before people pray for answers and some seem so shocked when they recieve an answer. But one lesson in this is it may not be the answer you were looking for. The events after my first wifes death happen rather fast. The chance of me and her ever meeting was remote and would not have occured had I not told my boss to transfer me when I really meant to turn it down.
Some mutual friends we had played match maker. One was the guy who drove me home from work when my wife died. His wife worked with my soon to be wife at another facility. I wasn't looking for another committment neither was she. A friendship developed and it quickly grew.
Let me ask you something. Go back and read my post in this thread. That's not all of it but most of the story. Would you walk away from someone you knew in your heart you loved because not enough months had passed? Granted chances were slim but through GOD all things are possible. I am convinced of his soverign hand in our very meeting. I am convinced because I can see now how the events unfolded and how lives were changed for the better especially my own. But I doubt you could ever understand why I say that.
!
Sorry, God----didn't realize you posted here.
Glad the spelling and grammer police are out in full force.
Someone please kick this guy in the nads for me.
That is easy to answer. Very few
Why not read through thread before you notice an error noted 2 days ago.
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