1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 2: Senior couple met at the YMCA, then get married in 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 2: the YMCA pool. Written by Mackay the GORDONI read by 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 2: Julie Provost. What happens when two seniors fall in love 9 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 2: with the why well why they get married in the pool. 10 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 2: Of course, at least that was the case for eighty 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 2: two year old Edward LaRue and seventy eight year old 12 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 2: Marlene Parsons. The couple met at their local YMCA in Maryville, Missouri, 13 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 2: during water aerobics class in December twenty twenty three. Their 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 2: first flirtation splashing. I liked it, Marlene recalled. We splashed 15 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 2: each other in the pool. Marlene was a little hesitant 16 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 2: to get married, as they both lost to spouse six 17 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 2: years earlier. I didn't want to get married because we 18 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 2: had both lost someone, Marlene said. After a year waiting 19 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 2: for an answer, Marlene finally said yes to Edward. Their 20 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 2: swimming instructor, was the one who suggested they get married 21 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 2: in the pool. Hey, you guys met in the pool. 22 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:12,479 Speaker 2: You should get married in the pool, and I can 23 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 2: marry you because I have my minister's license. I didn't 24 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 2: think they would take me seriously, she said, but they 25 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 2: did and took the plunge. Edward wore a textedo inspired 26 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 2: swimsuit and Marlene wore white in a small veil. Some 27 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 2: of their guests attended the ceremony in the pool too. 28 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 2: What a beautiful day for a wedding in our pool, 29 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 2: the YMCA we're on Facebook. Congratulations to our members, Edam 30 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 2: Marlene who were married in our pool today, surrounded by 31 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 2: family and friends. Our very own ally Morgan even officiated 32 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 2: the ceremony. We wish you years of love and happiness. 33 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,559 Speaker 2: The aquatic wedding also included a bouquet dance, a first 34 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 2: dance in the pool, naturally, and a cake. It all 35 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 2: went swimmingly. After they kissed, they splashed each other, killing 36 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 2: the deal with a sweet water wedding. It's a perfect 37 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 2: continuation of their love story. Love is patient, Love is kind. 38 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 2: Love is not envious or boastful, or ergon or brude. 39 00:01:58,000 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 2: It does not insist on its own way. It is 40 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 2: not there or resentable. Does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but 41 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 2: rejoices in the truth. Brice Corinthians, thirteen four through seven. 42 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 2: Mom thought her son was dead, but God worked a 43 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 2: miracle and his life was saved. Written by Heather Riggleman, 44 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 2: read by Juli Provost. A mom thought her son was dead, 45 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 2: but God worked a miracle and his life was saved. 46 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 2: There are moments in motherhood that carved themselves into your soul, 47 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 2: Moments to sell your breath, Moments that change every tomorrow. 48 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 2: Moments when the world stops and you realize is how 49 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 2: fragile and miraculous a child's life really is. For Maria Carlin, 50 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 2: a thirty six year old mother from Long Island, that 51 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 2: moment came on a July morning when she placed her 52 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 2: four year old son Jack into his car seat and 53 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 2: began racing him to the hospital. She had no idea 54 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 2: that within minutes she would be carrying her lifeless child 55 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 2: into an emergency room, praying for a miracle she couldn't control. 56 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 2: Earlier that morning, Jack had woken up with a cop 57 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 2: nothing unusual for a little boy, till suddenly it was 58 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 2: everything unusual, all of a sudden, It sounded like he 59 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 2: was breathing through a coffee straw. Maria said, he was 60 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 2: squeaking like a mouse. Panic rose instinate took over. She 61 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 2: stropped him in the car seat and started driving, and 62 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,679 Speaker 2: then it happened from behind her. Maria heard a sound 63 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 2: that she'll never forget, the soft slump of her little 64 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 2: boy's body. I just heard him fall forward in his 65 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 2: car seat, she said. Silence, not breathing, no movement, no poles. 66 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 2: Every mother knows that scream of fear that rises inside 67 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 2: your chest, the one that echoes your child's name, even 68 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 2: if your mouth never says it. For Maria, it was 69 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 2: a moment suspended, an unbearable decision. Do I continue driving 70 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 2: knowing that every minute that passes is another minute closer 71 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 2: to permanent brain damage, she wondered. She chose to drive 72 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 2: with everything inside her, begging God to let her make 73 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 2: it in time, and somehow she did. Maria rushed into 74 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: the Huntington hospital carrying a little boy who wasn't breathing. 75 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 2: I brought in a dead child and they brought him 76 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 2: back to life, she said. Doctors and nurses surged around him, 77 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 2: working with life and death urgency. Minutes passed like hours. 78 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 2: Every second felt like a lifeline, then breath, then pulse, 79 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 2: then life. Jack was transferred to Conan Children's Medical Center, 80 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 2: where doctors finally discovered the rare condition that nearly took 81 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 2: him lard genio clef, a tiny abnormal opening between the 82 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 2: voice box and estophagus that can cause choking, coughing, and 83 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 2: severe breathing problems. Surgery saved him, healing restored him, Prayer 84 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 2: carried them, and when Jack finally woke, he had a 85 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 2: question no mother is ever ready for. He looked into 86 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 2: his mother's eyes, the same eyes that had watched him 87 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 2: die and live again, and asked, Mommy, why didn't you 88 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 2: want me to go to heaven? There are some questions 89 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 2: only a child can ask, and only a mother can answer. 90 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 2: With tears, Maria can talk about that moment now with 91 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 2: gratitude instead of trembling. Jack survived, Jack healed, and this month, 92 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 2: the little boy who once slipped into stillness walked back 93 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 2: into the Huntington hospital with his mom, smiling, whole and 94 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 2: full of life. To think, the very people who brought 95 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 2: him back, he is, without question, a miracle. Sometimes miracles 96 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 2: come quietly in the backseat of a car, in the 97 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 2: frantic footsteps of a mother carrying hope in the hands 98 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 2: of doctor. Shall refuse to give up. But always, always 99 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 2: miracles come from the God who sees every tear before 100 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 2: it falls, and every heartbeat before it starts again. Psal, 101 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 2: I'm forty one to three. The Lord sustains them on 102 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 2: their sick bed and restores them from their bed of illness. 103 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast. 104 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story. 105 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 106 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes, 107 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 108 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. We'd 109 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: also love it if you'd rate us and leave us 110 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: a review. 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