Jennifer Tellis was getting more stressed by the day. She and her fiancé, Alfred, were running against the clock to get married. That’s because their marriage license was issued in February and, under state law, the license would only be valid for 60 days after it was issued.

They’d planned for that when they got their license in February and asked their pastor to officiate their wedding. But then, a global pandemic hit, their pastor backed out and the Seattle Municipal Court was closed.

“We probably could have gotten an extension but we wanted to be married,” Jennifer said. “I was really getting stressed.”

So, Jennifer called the City’s Customer Service Bureau (CSB) to see what her options were. As luck would have it, her call was answered by FAS’ Roxana Mincu, a customer service specialist.

Roxana got to thinking and placed a quick call to her former Customer Service (CS) colleague, Cheryl Brush. Cheryl was retired from her 16-year job in the City’s CS division and was also an ordained minister—something she got certified for in order to officiate Roxana’s recent wedding.

“Roxana called me and said this couple’s in this situation and they want to tie the knot,” Cheryl said.

Just days later—and on their very last day to get married before the 60-day window was up—Jennifer and her fiancé met Cheryl in a King County park for a social distanced wedding.

“I’ll always be grateful to Cheryl and Roxana for having the courage to do it. A lot of people are scared right now,” said Jennifer, who works in healthcare. “I’m not trying to sound corny, but it was beautiful to me that through this disaster humanity was coming out of people. And now out of this disaster we have this beautiful memory.”

Cheryl agrees. It was only her second wedding to officiate and it’s one she’ll certainly remember.

“I even wore the same outfit I did at Roxana’s wedding—except for the mask,” Cheryl said.