Marriage: The Story Of Ian & Larissa Murphy

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The Story of Ian & Larissa Murphy is about as atypical as a love story can be, but it begins and ends the way all the best ones do—with young lovebirds beating the odds to finally tie the knot.
But after a 10-month courtship came to an abrupt halt when Ian got into a horrific car accident, there was a time when nothing in their young lives seemed certain.

‘Ian and I first met in 2005 at college and had a blast for 10 months getting to know each other,’ Larissa says in a video documenting their story that has been making the internet rounds recently.
Larissa says she and Ian were ‘dating very intentionally’ and that they planned to get married soon after they were slated to finish college in December 2006.
But before that could happen, tragedy intervened.
On September 30 of that year, Ian was on his way to work near Pittsburgh when he was in a serious car crash.

‘We got a phone call that he had been in an accident,’ Larissa says. ‘ [He] had suffered a traumatic brain injury.’
Suddenly, what had seemed so certain to Larissa, became frighteningly out of reach.
'We watched our future crash with him in that white station wagon,' she writes on desiringgod.org.
But instead of moving on to another man and future husband, Larissa moved into Ian family’s home to help take care of him.


Though Ian was unable to communicate, she continued to date him.
‘I knew where he was so after he couldn’t talk, that helped me so much. I knew that he loved me,’ she says. ‘Looking back, it’s weird because he couldn’t talk and he couldn’t eat, so we probably looked like complete weirdos when we went on dates. But we had a blast and I just talked to him all the time.’

As Ian’s condition slowly improved, the possibility of marriage became stronger.
‘If he could communicate with me,’ she said. ‘Then we could have a marriage knowing it would be really different but as long as Ian could talk to me we could make it work.’
While Ian became incrementally healthier, his father became sick. He was diagnosed with brain cancer during his son’s recovery.
Ian’s father’s sickness became a catalyst for Larissa, who knew how much he wanted them to marry.

When Ian was well enough, Larissa took him to a judge in order to get their marriage approved since he remains unable to make that sort of decision on his own.
According to Larissa, the judge told her: ‘You two exemplify what love is all about. I believe that marriage will not only benefit you both but our community and hope that everyone in this city could see your love for one another.’

They would soon be married, though the new would come too late to share with Ian’s father, who died before their engagement.
Their video documents their touching, family and friend-filled wedding. Instead of standing, Larissa sits at the altar to be alongside the still seriously disabled Ian.
She must even help him stand as they complete their vows, just as she must now help him with everyday tasks.

'Though we chose marriage,' says Larissa, 'we chose it sadly. Sorrow has been a permanent resident in our 20s. It feels like the rest of the world uses these years for really fun things. But in our 20s, we have watched our future crash with him in that white station wagon and we now live with two versions of Ian.

'Weʼve watched all of our friends get married and have health. Iʼve watched as my girlfriends and sisters found husbands who could dance with them at their weddings and drive them to church on Sunday morning.

'Weʼve watched our dad fight and be taken by brain cancer, only to see life keep marching on.'
Despite it all, Larissa says it is worth it to be married to the love of her life.
‘But in light of all the practicals, and emotionals,’ she writes on desiringgod.org, ‘it was so very simple: we love each other.’



Source: Daily Mail