*Grace
The Rose Window at Grace Lutheran Church, Wadsworth, Ohio
From the R. Toland Wright Studio, Cleveland Ohio, 1916
Photographed by Al Teufen
GRACE
Day 1 — February 10
That a young pastor serving in Wadsworth, Ohio, and a young attorney working in Wadsworth, Ohio, would meet and end up married was serendipitous grace. But our Venn diagram had to overlap somewhere, and it was the Grace parishioners of Judy and Page Schrock. I knew them. They knew Elizabeth. Voilà!
But it wasn’t quite that simple. Elizabeth had been dating another attorney for about five years, and she was very ready for that to end. It just took her a couple months to figure it out while she dated us both.
For our very first acquaintance, Judy and Page invited us to have lunch with them. I knew that Elizabeth wasn’t your typical Wadsworth gal when she asked if I had ever read Wishful Thinking by Frederick Beuchner—a clever ABC book of theological words that I had on my shelf. She had attended an Episcopal high school, and she loved the book, which was required reading for a religion course. She also asked me if I believed in transubstantiation! I had never met anyone who not only asked those type questions, but also was beautiful, and musical, and smart, and fun! Lucky for me, the feelings were mutual! Grace indeed!
It so happens that Grace Lutheran Church in Wadsworth, Ohio, is known for its stunning rose window, created over a hundred years ago by the R. Toland Wright Studio, Cleveland, Ohio. It was beautifully photographed by Al Teufen, another Grace parishioner. The church architecture is a petite gothic cathedral in an unlikely location in Northeastern Ohio.
And that is where Elizabeth and I were married on October 20, 1990.
Day 1: the art of love and loss
view all posts at kentmueller.com
February 10, 2020, was the day my wife, Elizabeth Izant, entered the hospital. She and I were on a hopeful journey following her heart transplant five months prior. On March 1, she entered hospice and died March 11. This series is not about her medical journey. This is about sharing stories and reflections about our life together. In our 29 years of marriage, we collected a piece of art or two each year, often in celebration of our marriage anniversary. Each day from February 10 to March 11, I will be sharing an image of that art. And a story.