ROYAL OAK, Mich. — The first wedding ceremony for Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve was a joyful occasion attended by 180 friends and family, complete with white wedding dresses and veils, handmade origami table decorations and songs from their church choir.
That wedding in Michigan was not legal in 2003, but rather a symbolic testament to the love they nurtured over a 9-year, long-distance relationship.
Their second marriage, in 2011, happened on a whim as they visited friends in Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriage was legal.
And it’s their dream that the third time around will happen in the Catholic Church they’ve called home for nearly 20 years. As unrealistic as that possibility already was, it became even more remote after Ms.