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A
Love Story
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Bride: Gail Butler
Hometown: Bellefonte, Pa.
Education: B.S. in Business Logistics, Penn State University
Occupation: Supply planner for Hershey Foods Corporation
Groom: Jonas Varaly
Hometown: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Education: Scranton University, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
Occupation: Resident (Emergency Medicine) at the Milton S. Hershey Medical
Center
Parents of the Bride: Thomas and Catherine Butler
Parents of the Groom: Jack and Marijo Varaly
My favorite story to tell is how we met. My sister, Leigh, and I were at
a friend’s Halloween party in late October of 2002. We knew most
of the people at the party, and we were having a great time catching up
with friends. When I met Jonas, I met an angel—both literally and
figuratively. He was dressed in a white jumpsuit with wings, a wig, and
a tutu. We made small talk and I thought he was a nice guy, but I didn’t
think much besides that, since our encounter was brief.
A week or two later, the host of the party called and told me that a friend
of his was interested in me, and asked if he could give him my phone number.
Jonas was the friend, and from our first phone call, I was hooked. He was
funny, charming, smart and a gentleman. We made plans to go out but I came
down with a cold. I called Jonas to let him know, and asked if we could
reschedule. He sounded so deflated that I asked him to come to my apartment
and watch a movie. (I later found out that he thought I was blowing him
off.) Jonas showed up at my door with a funny book and some medicine, and
I knew right then and there that he was a catch. We talked the entire way
through the movie, and I can’t even recall what it was. We saw each
other twice more that week and finally on Friday we went out for our first
real date to a little, family-owned restaurant in Harrisburg. I laughed
the whole way through dinner and have been laughing ever since.
I can say that I knew he was the one when I was rushed to the hospital
with very serious health problems about two months after we started dating.
He was right by my side, and wouldn’t leave. My parents were sitting
around me in the emergency room, and Jonas was at the foot of my bed. He
just kept whispering that it was going to be okay, and that he loved me.
My condition worsened, and the doctors realized that I would need immediate
surgery, with two more surgeries throughout the next year. It was so soon
after we started dating, and it was so unfair to Jonas, that I tried to
break things off. I told him that we could resume things when I got better
because I couldn’t expect him to wait around for me while I tried
to battle surgery and recovery. He told me that there was no way that he
was going to leave me, and that he was in it for the “long haul.” Jonas
says he knew that I was “the one” after our first kiss. He
said: “I don’t ever want to kiss anyone else again.” He
says that he realized that he truly loved me when I got really sick, but
before I went to the hospital. He was sitting on my couch one night and
I was lying down, and he looked at me and said, “I love you. You
know that, right?” From that moment on, he knew. It took over a year
for me to get back to being healthy, and through it all, we have laughed,
cried, and loved together.
Jonas proposed in August of 2003, almost nine months after our first date.
He came to my apartment and woke me up after he got off of a night shift,
and told me that he brought me a piece of cheesecake—my favorite
food on Earth! When I got out of my bed, I realized that he set up dozens
of tea lights on my deck, with a dozen red roses and a bottle of champagne.
He sat me in one of the chairs and got down on one knee and asked me to
spend my life with him, and said that he loved me. I can’t really
recall everything else, since I was so happy.
Our wedding was held at First Baptist Church in Bellefonte. I have attended
that church since childhood, so I was pleased to have my pastor, Ron Berrus,
officiate. Our reception was held at the Nittany Country Club in Mingoville.
About 110 guests attended.
The high point of the day was having my father walk me down the aisle to “pick
up Jonas,” as my dad put it, to add some levity so I wouldn’t
feel sad that I was “growing up and getting married.” Saying
my vows was the most moving thing that I have ever done, and I was proud
of myself that I didn’t cry until I had to say “in sickness
and in health,” because I knew that I was marrying a man that had
already been there in sickness and in health.
I also really enjoyed our reception. We ate, danced, and socialized with
the people that meant the most to us. Our first dance as a married couple
was wonderful. It was wonderful to know that I was finally married to this
man that I love so much, and that all of the planning was worth it (although
I was glad that the planning was over). The next day was Mother’s
Day, and my parents held a brunch for the wedding party and the two families,
so we could all be together. It was a perfect ending to the whirlwind weekend.
The following Monday, Jonas and I headed off to Antigua, West Indies.
Originally, we planned on marrying in the Capitol building in Harrisburg.
We had it booked, but once the heavy planning started, we decided that
it would be much easier on our families to have it in Bellefonte instead.
Harrisburg is a very pretty city, and we love living here, but the process
was less complicated and more meaningful in Bellefonte. It was also easier
to plan the wedding, since I grew up there and had many friends who were
married there, and because they in turn, could advise me about the vendors.
So many times, I do something in my life that I don’t document well
enough. We decided to send an invitation to the White House so that we
could have a memento for our wedding. The congratulatory note from the
White House is something that I can keep in the wedding book.
People tell us that the first year of marriage is the hardest, and that
it is tough to get used to living with someone. I always tell my friends
that being married is the easiest and best thing I have ever done. I love
being married to Jonas, and it really is a snap! He tells me that if we
endured what we did over the last two years, anything else that we face
together will be a “piece of cheese cake.” – SCB |
 
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Photography by Jan Thiessen and Meredith
Mcdermott
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