Sharing Our Vows

It was a perfect day. Really it was. The rain held out and it was a beautiful February weekend. A brilliant blue sky, cool breeze, crashing waves, flowers…it was perfect.

Wayne and I want to share our vows with you, especially those who were not with us on Sunday but were sending us wishes and support from afar. These are important to us given all that we have been through and now as we become a family.

Wayne vowed:
Heather as your husband, with God and these friends and family as my witness, this is what I commit to you today .
I commit to passion. I will love you from a place that is extravagantly simple. My love will be tender, strong, and deep.
I commit to joy. I will share with you laughter and fun. I will play with you. When joy pain enters our lives I will experience it fully with you. Together our lives will be an ongoing adventure.
I commit to balance. I will be there for you. I will be there for William, Ariyana, and Afshin. I will take care of myself so that I can be present to our relationship and our family.
I commit to honesty. All of me will come to all of you. There will not be delays or drama. As you experience my fibers intertwining with yours, you will know they are genuine and absolute.
I commit to spirituality. My heart and mind will stay connected to God and to you. I will be unselfish and surrendered in my interactions with you.
I love you. I will love you forever. I will be yours forever.

Heather vowed:
Wayne, I want to bring you a smile each morning as you start your day.
Given our journeys, we both know how precious life is and how important love is. I know we will have our challenges but I will do my best to always remember the lessons we have learned; to remember what is important in life. I will love you, Ariyana, Afshin, & William each day with all my heart. I will take time to enjoy the simple gifts of life like the special smile you give me when I walk into the room, the way you always massage my neck when it is sore, my laughter as I watch you play and wrestle with the kids, the joy of coming home to Ariyana and Afshin as they run up to me and wrap their arms around me at the same time. I promise we will have fun, and that I will bring you laughter each day through my antics, incredible coordination, and probably some of my cooking adventures. I know everything is going to be ok. Most of all, I promise to love you, Wayne, for you… for all of you.

We hope that these words touch your heart and that you take this very moment to share your love with that special person in your life.

It's almost time

Our big day is almost here. We are both so excited and can't wait to start our lives together as a family. It has been wonderful to have friends come in from all over. Ariyana and Afshin have been loving their time with all of their friends and "cousins" as Ariyana decided to call them. It reminds me of how lucky I really am, how lucky both of us are. Our friends and family stood beside us as we loved, as our hearts broke, and now again as we love. It amazes me to find so many friends from all over the country sending us their prayers and well wishes. We are grateful. I hope Wayne and I can be an inspiration; that we can remind you of the precious gift of life, the importance to really make time each day to treasure the little things, to enjoy each other, and most of all, to embrace life.

Creating a Home

Over the last three months we've spend a lot of time considering a variety of housing options. For a while we thought we'd live in Heather's house. Then we were looking at a house in the Loma Linda hills. Now we've decided that what will keep our life the simplest will be to live in Wayne's house in Loma Linda. Our address is: 11570 Acacia St, Loma Linda, CA 92354. Give us a visit!

Honeyfund Completion

We've completed our honeyfund site. If you want to get a hint of what our honeymoon will be about you can go to: http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/wayneandheather

Our Story - Wayne's Perspective

Some reading this website may not know the first part of our story. Here it is, told by Wayne, but proofread by Heather.

Some time in early March Audrey Benson – the coordinator for the medical school rotation Wayne’s in charge of, and someone who knows Wayne well - told him about a faculty member at Loma Linda University (LLU) who had recently lost her husband due to stomach cancer. Initially there was no name and no other information, just the thought there might be an opportunity for mutual friendship. Audrey also sat down with Heather, learned where she was at as far as relationships were concerned – and let her know she knew of a “tall, eloquent man” when the time was right. Heather was busy being a single Mom and full time faculty member, wasn’t ready, and didn’t think about Audrey’s hints again. Wayne, however, was fascinated with the information Audrey had given him, and with a few more hints eventually figured out that this mysterious lady was Heather Javaherian, OTD, the Director of the Doctoral Degree Program in Occupational Therapy in the School of Allied Health Professions (SAHP).

Through on-line research Wayne learned that Heather was a stunning redhead whose maiden name was Gallew. He figured out she was originally from northeastern Pennsylvania, and that in 1989 she was voted as Laurel Queen for that state. He discovered she was highly published and respected professionally, one of a handful of occupational therapists in the country involved in domestic violence, and voted the LLU SAHP “Faculty of the Year” – the youngest ever – in June of 2009. He also learned that Heather’s husband Hamid was a locum tenums radiologist prior to becoming sick in June of 2007 and that he had passed away on July 9, 2008, spending the last four months of his life on home hospice. From Heather’s blog Wayne observed that Heather was incredibly loyal to and in love with Hamid, that she relied on God to help her survive the pain of loss, that she had two small children – Ariyana age 3 ½ and Afshin almost 2, and that many family and friends were with her.

By this time Wayne was intensely curious. His intuition told him that there would be a lot around which Heather and he could connect. It took a few months, but in July, after returning to LLU from his summer vacation, Wayne called Heather up and asked her if she would be interested in sharing stories. Unknown to Wayne, but we believe known to God, the evening before that call Heather was doing some significant emotional processing. As a result the very morning Wayne called, Heather had moved her ring from her left hand to her right for the first time – signifying to herself, God and others that she was ready to move to another stage in life. When Wayne called, Heather was at first confused. Why was this doctor calling her and asking her questions about Hamid and the anniversary of his death? At first she thought Wayne must be fulfilling some chaplain type duties that maybe happened in Seventh-day Adventist institutions. As soon as Wayne shared that his 13 year old son had died of cancer 3 years earlier, however, Heather knew that Wayne was the man Audrey had mentioned several months before.

The very next day Wayne and Heather found themselves having lunch together and connecting in an incredibly profound way. They learned that they had both lain beside someone they loved deeply with a hand on his chest as his heart beat for the very last time. They learned they were both strong people who were going to be ok despite their losses. What began as a chance to share stories and explore friendship turned romantic on the way out when Heather’s shoe got caught on the curb and slid off. Wayne immediately and gallantly fell to his knee and gently and skillfully replaced the slipper.

The next day there was some exploratory e-mail exchanges. Within a couple of days these had turned in to long phone conversations. This progressed rather quickly into regular texting and a series of intense and thoroughly enjoyable dates including sampling a Tapas bar, sharing our mutual love for Indian food, taking an evening stroll at Corona del Mar beach, and experiencing a picnic on top of Snow Summit. Wayne’s running friends would laugh as he tried to understand and explain the feelings he had for Heather. Within a few weeks Wayne was getting to know Ariyana and Afshin, and spending more and more time at Heather’s house. It became clear that spending time together was not only enjoyable, it was also incredibly comfortable and just seemed right. By October Wayne was presenting Heather a ring…