For her wedding, Alison Ferrell wanted something different for her “something blue,” so she found “someone blue.”
We all know of the wedding tradition of having something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Ferrell and her soon-to-be husband Matthew saw this tradition as an opportunity to honor an important man in their lives.
Instead of the usual “something blue,” she asked her 92-year-old uncle, Bill Lee Eblen, a former Marine, to serve as her “someone blue.”
According to ABC News, Ferrell knew from the moment she got engaged that she wanted her uncle to have a special role in her wedding.
“From the moment I got engaged I knew I wanted to include my uncle Bill in a special way… I come from a family where we were taught to have the utmost respect and admiration for the armed services and honoring him as the ‘something blue’ just seemed like the natural choice.”
Ferrell made this special request while her uncle was in the hospital, getting treated for pneumonia.
This request became one of the biggest things motivating Eblen to recover.
According to ABC News, Eblen did everything he could to recover:
“I immediately started doing more calisthenics, walking more instead of riding my little three-wheel bike… Then all the people around here were talking about, ‘You gotta get back in shape again. You’re laying around on your you-know-what too much.”
Ferrell never doubted that her Marine uncle would make it.
“He’s a tough, mean, Marine machine. I never doubted he would be there.”
This Marine never gave up and touched the entire audience when he escorted the bride down the aisle. He was “elated and honored to be a part of [the wedding].”
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Although Eblen no longer had his World War II uniform, the family was able to find a make-shift uniform for him to wear to the ceremony. One of Ferrell’s neighbor’s parents loaned a uniform to Eblen.
Although the uniform did not have the correct chevrons on it for Eblen, who is a sergeant, it got the job done. Eblen got emotional wearing it.
“Just to putting on that uniform again brought back a lot of great old memories,” said Eblen. “It got me choked up.”
Eblen wasn’t the only one who got choked up, as Ferrell was just as happy to see the smile she brought to his face.
“Semper Fidelis,” which means always faithful, is the motto of the US Marine Corps. Ferrell and Eblen were both faithful to each other, and this story reminds us of how powerful the bond between family is.
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Thank you, Ferrell and Eblen, for bringing a smile (and even a few tears) to our eyes.
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