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Sad news about two of the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing: Rebekah Gregory and Pete DiMartino, who married a year after the blast, are separating after 10 months of marriage. "After the decision was made to amputate my leg in November, I found myself having to make an even more painful choice -- to separate from my husband Pete," Gregory told People magazine.
Gregory and DiMartino had been in a long distance relationship for a year when they traveled to the 2013 marathon to watch DiMartino's mother race. This was also the first time DiMartino met Gregory's son from another relationship. They couldn't have known how the events of that day would alter their course so radically.
The blast ruptured DiMartino's eardrum and destroyed nearly all of his Achilles tendon. Gregory would eventually have her leg amputated after 17 surgeries.
About a month later they were both back at their respective homes, Gregory in Houston, Texas and DiMartino in Rochester, New York. They talked on the phone every day, but they missed each other. Finally, in the fall, DiMartino drove all the way to Texas and proposed to Gregory. They married that April.
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In retrospect, Gregory feels their shared crisis accelerated their relationship. "Over the last several months I've come to realize that going through such a horrific event together put a fast-forward on our relationship that we each handled differently," she tells People.
Their story was the stuff of romance novels. Their dream wedding took place under blooming cherry blossoms in South Carolina. She wore a beaded fairy tale gown. But after the wedding reality set in, life together was a challenge.
It's no one's fault that things didn't work between this couple. Who knows how their relationship would have developed if it hadn't been for the blast. Maybe they just needed more time together, in the same city but not necessarily under the same roof, before marrying. Or maybe they would have realized they were not each other's ideal partners before the wedding.
Either way, I don't think they should have any regrets. They had each other through a traumatic event. They shared an incredible bond and love for a time. They are survivors, thriving in defiance of a violent attack. They are young and have their lives ahead of them.
But our hearts still break for Rebekah and Pete.
How do you think you and your significant would fare if you'd gone through a crisis together like the Boston bombing?
Image via Rebekah Gregory DiMartino/Facebook
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