WEDDING Their best-laid plans did not go awry

The couple unknowingly chose a historic date for their wedding.
By GARRY L. CLARK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
It was a beautiful morning in Aruba as Christa Vitt and James Blythe left their hotel early to go on a snorkeling cruise. This was their wedding day, and they were spending it just as they'd planned -- together. They had thought about having a larger wedding, but when it came right down to it, James says, "We wanted our dream wedding of getting married on the beach with no shoes, just the two of us."
So, with the support of their families, the couple had contacted a wedding planner in Aruba, made their travel arrangements and scheduled their seaside ceremony for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11.
Returning later that afternoon, Christa and James, intent on final preparations for the wedding, only slightly noticed that the usual hustle of activity at the hotel had slowed significantly. In the hotel room, Christa turned on the television and the two were shocked by the news of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and the crash of the hijacked flight in Pennsylvania.
A while later, the phone rang. It was the wedding planner. Had they heard what was happening? Yes. "I just wanted to make sure you still wanted to go through with this."
Christa and James looked at each other. The news had been devastating. The two felt deeply sympathetic and very respectful of those who had been directly affected by the day's horrific events, but they also knew what their answer had to be: "Of course we do." "We were not going to let some crazy person dictate what we do with our lives," James says.
So at 5:30 the Rev. Theophilus Rolle listened as the couple, barefoot and casually dressed, exchanged marriage vows on the beach. It had been a day of infamy, but Christa and James were resolved, not only to be united with their fellow citizens in the fight against terrorism, but also to be united with each other as husband and wife.
The ceremony was followed by a romantic dinner for two right there on the beach. It was a small island of serenity on what had turned out to be a tumultuous and history-making day.
Honeymoon: The Blythes spent the rest of the week in Aruba as they had planned, but now they were surrounded by hundreds of now-stranded tourists who were waiting for bans on flights to be lifted in order to get home. "It seemed like we were in the 'Twilight Zone,'" James says. "People had planned these once-in-a-lifetime trips. It definitely was a point of conversation, but they didn't let it alter day-to-day activities too much."
By the time their departure date had arrived, the airlines were once again flying, and the newlyweds were on their way home, the only hitch being the 31/2 hours it took to get from the front doors of the airport in Aruba to actually boarding the plane, because of increased security.
Many other travelers, still stranded because of canceled flights, were waiting for standby seats. The couple also faced increased security arriving in Miami and then again upon arriving in Cleveland.
Back home: The Blythes are living in Columbus where Christa, a graduate of Ohio State University, is employed as a pharmacist with Merck Medco. She is a daughter of Carole Vitt and Dennis Vitt, both of Poland.
James, who graduated from Ohio University in Athens, is a financial consultant with NatCity Investments. He is a son of David Blythe of Atlanta and the late Dee Keadle, who had lived in Warren.
James says that his job hasn't changed a whole lot since the attack. "Investors are stressful," he says. "I'm just doing my best to see that they don't stray from their long-term goals. I try to take the emotional aspect out of it."
As for the future and their wedding anniversaries, the couple are philosophical. As James puts it, "The way Christa and I look at it is that the glass is half full. Negative things happen all over the world all the time, but life does go on. And hopefully our celebrating our anniversary will add some peace to that day that a lot of people will be helped by."