Karnes City resident Darleen Wederski and her family recently received a wedding invitation -- a very special wedding invitation. It seems the wedding was supposed to have taken place in March of 2007, but had to be postponed until June, 2008.

Why the time gap and delay?

The war in Iraq and the tragedy it brought.

The couple in this story? Travis "Tra" Vendelow and Tiffany Black. Tra grew up in Alaska and Utah entering the Army at age 17 upon graduating from high school. Tiffany was from South Dakota and attending the University of Wyoming when they met in 2005. Tra was a staff sergeant by then and Tiffany was working toward her degree in exercise and sports medicine. Their mutual acquaintance was Tra’s favorite cousin whom he chose to visit when on leave. He was planning to stay a week but when he met Tiffany he stayed a month before returning to his battalion at Fort Hood, Texas.

She said, "He is the most wonderful man I’ve ever met."

He said, "Tiffany is the nicest person I’ve ever known."

They spent Christmas at her family’s home where one night they went for a walk and when they passed by the church she grew up in, he told her to look at the church. That’s where she saw, spelled out in Christmas Lights, "Will you marry me?"

And she said, "Yes."

He left for his second deployment to Iraq soon after they had made plans to marry the following March, when he would be on leave again. But in February, less than a month before their wedding, a call came from Tra’s mother. While leading his battalion in a Humvee to an al-Qaeda stronghold, an explosive device blew through the bottom of the vehicle and he lost his legs. The report was that he drifted in and out of consciousness, each time saying, "I could see Tiffany’s eyes, nose and smile (not her whole face) for a few seconds each time."

Tiffany said that the report said he had to be resuscitated three times. And later it was learned that he had to be brought back from death twice before a helicopter arrived and once more after he got to the Army’s Iraq medical center.

From there, after a stop at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, he finally arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C. Tra arrived with "bi-lateral above-the-knee amputations, a fractured pelvis, fractured left elbow, a C4 spine fracture, a jaw fracture, and needed a special procedure on his right arm." Tiffany arrived at Walter Reed on February 12 believing that God still had a purpose for their lives together and knowing that her education in exercise and sports medicine were a very big part of His plan for their lives.

She was there with Tra when he was presented the Purple Heart by Army General Pete Schoomaker. Tiffany and Tra were surprised to learn that General Schoomaker had a Wyoming connection also, as a member of the University of Wyoming football team in the 60s. They thought that was "pretty cool" and confirmed their belief that their love was meant to be no matter what.

At this point in time, Tra is now an outpatient at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. One of his goals is to continue healing and to be able to greet his unit standing on his prosthetic legs when they come home this October 1. And, of course, his ultimate goal is to walk down the aisle on his wedding day to marry the love of his life, Tiffany. Tiffany has said that on the June date in 2008 the wedding probably will be bigger than the original one they had planned but they also will be celebrating much more, too - Life.

The Wederski Family is asking the community to keep Tiffany and Tra and their prayers. They also are asking everyone to remember all the troops and their families who have faced these traumatic times firsthand, like they have, and how it has changed their lives forever.

cpassmore@thecountywide.com