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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| But love not kept waiting |
Lisa and Rocky Nelson stand in front of her destroyed home. |
| More Photos |
Monday, April 9, 2007
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Here comes the ... firefighters?
That’s the tune sung by one bride and her groom.
Twelve hours after the bride’s house burned, the two said “I do” in a ceremony at the Church of God Prophecy in Ridgeway.
Lisa Hairston Nelson lived at 205 Mineral St., near the corner of Lester Street.
Twelve hours before she was to marry long-time fiancée Rocky Nelson, the house caught fire, with the two of them and family members inside.
Out-of-town family and friends had gathered in Martinsville for the upcoming nuptials and “we were up till 12 (midnight) Friday visiting with everyone,” Lisa Nelson said.
Several relatives stayed at the house, including Rocky Nelson’s parents, one of whom is in a wheelchair.
By 2 a.m., the bride and groom had settled on an air mattress in the living room in hopes of getting a few hours sleep before the wedding, Lisa Nelson said.
However, their rest was short-lived.
“He screams,” Lisa Nelson said of Rocky Nelson. “We wake up and one of the eaves of the house is on fire.”
“As soon as we got everybody out, that was it. It was up in flames,” she said of her three-year-old Habitat for Humanity home.
While other, more faint-hearted folks may have had second thoughts about getting married or, at the very least, postponing the wedding, the fire “was our sign to go through with it,” Lisa Nelson said.
The wedding was held at 2 p.m. Saturday, both said.
Rocky Nelson explained the two have been together for five years and “we had already made the plans” to tie the knot.
After the blaze, the two talked it over and decided “we’re not letting this stop us. We’re gonna go through with it,” he said.
Fortunately, Lisa Nelson had left her bridal gown and other wedding regalia at the church.
Rocky Nelson’s tuxedo was in the house when the fire started, but not to worry.
“He was standing in the street in bare feet and shorts, glad that he was able to save his tuxedo,” recalled Martinsville Fire Chief Clarence Monday.
Lisa Nelson laughed as she remembered the sight of her groom, standing in the street barefoot, wearing boxer shorts and tightly clutching the tuxedo like a prized possession.
“He is the bravest man I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said, explaining that not only did he get his mother and tuxedo out of the burning house, he also went around the house to unhook propane tanks “and threw them down in the woods” and away from the flames.
The couple, who both work at Wal-Mart, planned to spend their honeymoon in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., but the fire forced them to cancel the trip. Now, they are staying at the Jamison Inn, unsure of where they will live.
Regardless of the change in honeymoon plans the two are thankful for what they have instead of crying over what they lost.
“God is good,” Lisa Nelson said. “I might have lost all that material stuff, but I’ve got my family” and that’s what matters most. “This is a new beginning for us. We’ve just gotta stay strong.”
Besides, it would take more than a fire to come between the two, she said.
“I’ve waited so long for this” wedding, Nelson said. “I love this man.” |
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