Couple's Leap Of Faith Marriage Blossomed Into A Lifetime Of Love
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- Dave and Elizabeth Weinlick said "I do" just minutes after meeting each other in 1998 inside the Mall of America.
On Friday, the Woodbury couple renewed their vows in the place where their love story began.
Long before reality TV, Dave Weinlick's friends launched a campaign to choose a mate for him; it was Bethy.
The beginning of their marriage was a spectacle, as the two strangers took a leap of faith into marriage.
"We have the rest of our lives to learn about each other," Elizabeth said in 1998.
The couple learned on day one to accept and appreciate each other as they are, they call it their key to 19 fulfilling years of marriage.
"I think that people in general just need to take themselves less seriously and laugh at themselves and laugh at each other," Dave Weinlick said on Friday.
Over the years, the Weinlicks had four children, and discovered a love deeper than either of them expected.
That love is why they chose to renew their marriage vows in the same place where they met.
On Friday, their vows to each other meant more than they ever had.
"I was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and am facing some very difficult struggles, as our family is," Dave Weinlick said to the onlookers inside the crowded MOA rotunda.
Six months ago the Weinlicks learned Dave's stage 4 colon cancer will cut their time together short.
Even with the sad news, the couple's leap of faith into marriage gave them both a lifetime worth of love.
The couple encouraged others not to take love for granted.
"You get involved in life and you sometimes forget just how precious it is," Elizabeth Weinlick said. "So just appreciate it every day."
The couple also spent a lot of time on Friday talking about the Angel Foundation, which helps families dealing with cancer.