There’s nothing more beautiful than going to a wedding to watch someone you care about exchange vows to share the rest of their life with another person.
In November 2017, when a couple in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania were getting married, the bride shocked the crowd when she turned to the audience to make a demand before she would say “I do.”Katie Hild and Jeremy Musser met four years before they made the decision to get married to one another. But they had a bit of a rocky start when Jeremy told Katie something that would change the course of their entire relationship.
It was as if life made a complete 360-flip for Katie. Jeremy explained that he had a son, whose name was Landon.
Katie was only 20 years old at the time, so she was a bit taken aback by the shocking news, but she chose to be calm about it. That was when Katie asked Jeremy how old his son was.
And she most certainly wasn’t prepared to hear that his son was only three weeks old.
Katie had no clue how to handle that kind of information. How had they been dating for six whole weeks and this was the first time that he mentioned the baby.
Just like any other family with a new baby, the stress was a bit overwhelming.
Jeremy was frustrated with his relationship with his son, Landon, and the mother, Casey Jo Booker. And when Katie met Jeremy’s ex-girlfriend, it was surprising that they didn’t get along at all.
But Katie understood from the beginning that if she wanted to be in Jeremy and Landon’s lives, then she and Casey would have to be in each other’s lives all of the time, as well.
They had to figure out how to make it work, so she decided to reach out to Casey.
By no means did they have it easy at first, but they decided that it would be best to start going out on “mommy dates.” So Katie asked Casey if she would be willing to meet up for some coffee.
When Katie was waiting for Casey to show up she was a bit nervous, but she knew that it needed to be done.
As time passed on, they continued to work on their relationship, and life continued on, as well.
Eventually, Casey met Tyler, who is now her husband. Tyler also had a difficult time getting used to this strange family dynamic.
When Jeremy and Katie decided to get married, Jeremy knew that he needed to speak to Tyler.
He sent Jeremy a message thanking him for being good to Landon, and then he invited Tyler out for a drink. But they never did go out for one.
The day of their wedding finally arrived and Jeremy and Katie couldn’t wait to exchange their vows with one another.
Their friends and family were all around them, and Katie’s mom was the officiant of the wedding.
Just like any other wedding, the time to exchange their vows quickly approached. In a strange turn of events, when it was Katie’s turn she didn’t look at Jeremy.
In fact, she turned to the crowd and asked Casey to stand up. Everyone was confused. After all, the two women weren’t enemies anymore.
The whole room went silent.
Katie didn’t tell anyone what she was planning, so no one had a clue as to what she was doing. Even so, everyone turned around to see what was going to happen.
While Casey stood up in front of everyone, Katie began to speak.
The bride began to say some things that shocked her friends and family. Katie explained how she and Casey hated each other in the beginning.
But because they both cared about the little boy, they did what they had to do to make things work. On the day of their wedding, Katie invited Casey to have the first look.
Katie wanted to give her a sunflower bracelet, just like the ones she gave to her bridesmaids. She needed to make sure that Casey knew how important she was.
They were no longer living in the past, and Katie was looking forward to moving on with Jeremy.
They were just getting ready to say their vows when Katie asked Casey to stand up in front of everyone. The pair had been through a lot with one another, so her words were extremely moving to everyone in the room.
“First, I want to thank you for accepting me as your friend and allowing me to be a part of Landon’s life. I promise to be an amazing mother to your son.
I promise to respect, work, listen, and communicate together as co-parents. I will love you guys no matter what. We are one family,” Katie began.
“I may not have been there for his first step, potty training, or his first dentist appt., but Casey respected me like I was. She still treated me like his mom.
It never was an act (although I thought it was at times). She was true,” she continued.
“I️ truly love Casey and Tyler. They saved me when I️ needed it most without realizing.
They made me grow up and they truly showed me what love meant,” she continued. At this point, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Katie then turned to little Landon and said, “I promise to love daddy with all my heart, I promise to be a best friend to mommy and your daddy Tyler.
We will be one big family that I promise you will have for the rest of your life. I love you so much.”.
Katie understood that she needed to say her vows to Landon and Casey before she could say anything to Jeremy about their lives together.
Katie learned from the very beginning of their relationship that it wasn’t just about Katie and Jeremy. There were other lives involved in the relationship, as well.
After the toasts, the tears, and the cries of celebration, Tyler walked up to Jeremy finally ready to make amends.
“After all of this is over, let’s go get that drink,” Tyler said to Jeremy.
Once all was said and done, she decided to share her story on Facebook.
She needed people to see how important it was for people to build a blended family that supported one another. She needed people to see what a blessing it was.
Katie began to explain to people how a blended family dynamic can go as smoothly as you allow it to. “It’s possible to get along, communicate, and give the same rules/love/respect on both sides for your child/children.
Go against the norm. BE that CHANGE,” she said.
Katie ended her post with one final piece of advice of love for her readers: “It’s possible to get along, communicate, and give the same rules/love/respect on both sides for your child/children.
Go against the norm. BE that CHANGE.”.
Most of you know that it’s not always easy to get along with your family, especially if you’re a part of a blended family.
Because of their patience, understanding, and persistence, Katie and her family were able to work things out. And because of that, they can share their experience with those that are in the same shoes.