Back in 1991, I was standing in the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia waiting for a C-130 to refuel. I was covering the Gulf War and the particular landing strip we had been deposited into had been dubbed M.O.N. AFB by the troops. As in Middle of Nowhere. We're talking Lawrence of Arabia sand. As I waited for our plane to get the thumbs up, an Air Force physician came ambling over to me. "Did you go to SUNY-Binghamton?" he asked, and to this day I still laugh at the small world-ness of it all. (The answer, by the way, is yes.)

So, okay, how's this for small world? My assistant Cliff, with whom who I used to work at United Press International some twenty years ago, around the time of that first Gulf War, was having some chest pains back in February of 2008. In intense pain, Cliff got himself over to Reston Hospital Center, where a nurse immediately began taking care of him. She administered an IV, though his memory is understandably sketchy from that point on. Eventually a doctor came by and told Cliff that he was having a pulmonary embolism and was being admitted to the hospital immediately.

"I remember telling them that I had a meeting over at National Geographic," Cliff told me a few minutes ago. The doctor seemed unimpressed. "Mr. Owen, if you leave now to go to your meeting, you might not make it out of the parking lot alive."

Well, it's a good thing Cliff stuck around. After ten days in the hospital he recovered, and despite a tendency towards wearing skirts now, he's pretty much all recovered. (Okay, I'm exaggerating.) And it's only natural that he would have shared this story with the groom at the last wedding we shot together because Dr. Nelsson Becerra is an emergency medicine physician at Prince William Hospital. "I can't remember, but he must have mentioned at that point that his bride was an emergency room nurse at Reston," Cliff said.

You thinking what I'm thinking? Yup, it's true. As the trolley carrying the bridal party arrived at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Ashburn, Virginia, Cliff looked aboard and saw that our bride that day, Shana Drascovic, was the very nurse that cared for him almost two years earlier.

"What are the odds?" Cliff says. "I should have bought a lottery ticket that day."

Well, as far as Nelsson and Shana are concerned, they did win the lottery. And I can tell because in every picture of Shana that day, there's nothing but excitement and happiness written all over her face. These guys were just meant to be. (Not to mention that having a doctor and nurse in the house at all times is gravy, don't you think?)

Her excitement started with her very first email to me: "Matt: Meeting with you today was such a highlight for me during this whole fast paced planning extravaganza!! Your work is such an inspiration to me and I'm honored to have you a part of my big day!!! I can really tell that you love what you do and still after many years have a deep passion for photographing weddings!!" What photographer wouldn't want exclamation point like that?!?

And the excitement continued, even with some hiccups that might have sent another couple over the edge. You see, St. Theresa's is a brand new church. And when I say brand new, I'm talking brand spanking new. Shana's wedding was set to be the first official anything in the church and as of Thursday before the big day not all the construction permits had been closed out. So Shana and family had to start contemplating the unthinkable, moving the ceremony the day before the wedding! As luck would have it, and as seems fitting for a couple that do so much good for so many people, my assistant Cliff included, the church was declared fit for occupancy with just hours to spare.

I like stories like that, don't you?

To see a mini gallery of pictures from Shana and Nelsson's wedding, click here.

Take care,

Matt