So on April 13th 2002 we walked down the isle of a gorgeous Church in Matamoros. She was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. And our wedding was incredible. The Padre gave the service in spanish, which not much of my family understood. But they got the jist of it. I later found out that the absence of my mother (who had passed away a month before Lizeth and I met) was not quite so. My sister in law told me that right as the Padre had us kiss, a gleam of light had shined through the stained glass window as if Mom was up there watching and had shed her tear of happiness for us.

After the wedding we had a reception that was out of this world. Much was traditional of the weddings in the United States. We walked out on the floor with our parents and then shared the first dance. We danced with our parents (Shirlee, my stepmom was good enough to fill in for my mother), our parents danced with each other followed by the money dance, a train, the tossing of the bow and removal of the guarder. The air was filled with the music of a wonderful Mariachi Band that kept the night flowing with great music. It was a night to be remembered by all that were there. We then took our honeymoon in Veracruz, on the south tip of Mexico. We spent a week in a beach view hotel taking in the sights and for the most part just spending time relaxing.

Once we got back from our honeymoon, I had to leave Lizeth in Matamoros because we hadn’t received her papers to get her across the border. This was supposed to be a 3 month process. It proved more difficult. Before the wedding, we had asked the court in Brownsville if we needed any special permission to bring her into the states as my wife. They told us that all we needed was a marriage license. Then a few months before the wedding, I asked Lizeth to visit with immigration in Matamoros just to double check that we don’t need any other type of visa to bring her into the states. It turned out that we did need a visa and it took 8 months after the wedding for Lizeth to enter the US. So, during that time, I would fly to Mexico to spend a weekend with my wife once a month. We would cherish every minute together, then for the rest of the month, we would communicate online with video conferencing and instant messaging.

Right away, we bought a house in Florence KY (a suburb of Cincinnati). We had fantastic neighbors, especially next door.  Craig and Carol were wonderful people.  We had wonderful times in this house, but we had thoughts of another home... One where we could raise family around family.

While the house was beautiful, the yard was spacious enough for our dog Sadie to run till she dropped. It was a very close second to where our actual home was (or should be).  At this point, we just celebrated our 2nd anniversary and we were deciding to start a family (hopefully, our baby’s looks will come from their mother). We were hoping to find work in Tulsa where my family lives. We always felt it was important that our children to grow up around family. We looked for any radio job opening in the Oklahoma / Texas area for the next year or so...  That is where the next chapter begins...