The Vow: The True Events That Inspired the Movie (10 page)

Our engagement photo. The matching outfits recall our first meeting—on the phone discussing an order for athletic jackets.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim J. Carpenter, September 18, 1993.

The wedding party. Some of these friends and family would soon play a part in our lives we couldn’t possibly have imagined.

Honeymooning on Maui the first time. Krickitt will never remember it; I will never forget it.

What was left of our car after a collision the night before Thanksgiving 1993. This angle shows the crushed driver compartment and the sunroof that sliced up my back.

This angle shows where rescue workers cut the roof and door apart to get Krickitt out. The car landed upside down, and she hung suspended by her seat belt for more than half an hour.

Krickitt at Barrow Neurological Center in Phoenix, Christmas 1993. The fact she was alive was a miracle; at this point we didn’t know what level of recovery to expect.

Krickitt, her sister-in-law Gretchen, and brother Jamey at Barrow, January 1994. Jamey and Gretchen were strong spiritual supporters during Krickitt’s rehab.

Krickitt with her mom, Mary Pappas, about two months after the accident. Krickitt had graduated to outpatient status.

Krickitt and me in the courtyard at Barrow with my parents, Danny and Mo Carpenter.

Scott Madsen, Krickitt’s “physical terrorist,” became a real friend who helped me keep my perspective during the inevitable setbacks in her therapy.