Area couple married at Uniontown Hospital
Harry and Rhonda (Rice) Gibson of Grindstone believe that love conquers all. So, they decided to publicly show their love for each other on Thursday when they were married in the chapel at Uniontown Hospital, where Harry, 51, has been a patient for several days.
Diagnosed with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, coronary artery disease and renal kidney failure, Harry has been clinging to life after having three heart attacks within the last 15 months; however, he says he feels fine.
“Life deals you all kinds of hands, and you can’t lie around and cry about it,” he said. “I’m in good shape as long as I have Rhonda supporting me. She takes good care of me. She’s my lifeline, my guardian angel.”
Rhonda, 38, who works as the medical records coordinator at Lafayette Manor, visits Harry in the hospital three times a day: before going to work in the morning, during her lunch break and in the evenings.
Rhonda said she does not mind taking care of Harry for two reasons: one, because she loves him, and two, because he took care of her and her boys when she was hospitalized in 1987 and had to undergo surgery.
“I was going through a real bad time when I met Harry,” explained Rhonda. “I got divorced and then met Harry at a party a few months later. We loved each other from the time we met. I had to undergo two more surgeries to have my colostomy reversed, and he took care of me and my boys, who were 1 and 3 years old at the time.”
Harry and Rhonda moved in with each other five months after they met, and they lived together with Rhonda’s two boys, Josh and Blake, for 16 years before getting married.
“It’s been a long 16 years, with a lot of ups and downs, but when you love each other, that’s all that counts,” Rhonda said.
Harry describes the love between them as being an indestructible bond. “It’s almost like we’re one person. Whatever happens to me happens to her, and whatever happens to her happens to me,” he said. “We always think about each other and deal with everything together; there’s hardly anything we do without each other.”
The couple said they tried to get married many times before, but Harry’s medical problems always put a halt to their plans.
“We were ready to get married many times before, but something would always happen to Harry’s health that would stop us,” Rhonda said. “I went to work on Thursday and decided it was a good day as any. I already had the dress and the rings, so I called the courthouse to get the license and brought some papers for Harry to sign during my lunch break. I was determined to get married on Thursday.”
The Rev. Keith Conover from Pleasant View Presbyterian Church officiated the wedding ceremony.
“I’ve conducted my share of unusual weddings in unusual circumstances,” Conover said. “Sometimes, illness has a way of making people quickly identify the things and the people who are very, very important to them.”
Harry is now fighting off an infection that has attacked the outer lining of his heart.
“It’s been a rough year, diagnosed with one thing after another,” he said. “I use to work 16-hour days as a security guard, but I’ve been put out to pasture and am not allowed to work anymore, so I’ll be on disability. Rhonda has been forced to miss a lot of work, so things will be tight financially, but money doesn’t make you rich – a full life does.”
Harry said he will take care of the cooking once he gets out of the hospital. “I’ll cook for the family, that will be my job,” he said. “I can make good macaroni and cheese; don’t have to use the box stuff. I can also cook veal parmesan and stuffed chicken breast that you can’t beat.”
As usual, Rhonda visited Harry in the hospital the day after they were married.
“I loved Rhonda from the moment I saw her,” said Harry. “We both felt like we’ve been married for 16 years, but now we have a piece of paper that says so. We have two good boys. What else do you need? I feel wonderful.”