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Kim and Krickitt Carpenter have
honored their wedding vows through
many challenges including an accident
that wiped out Krickitt’s memory of her
husband. Web-only photos courtesy of
Lovell/Fairchild Communications.
View additional photos
A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
3:00 P.M. ET February 13, 2012
How seriously do you take the vow, “till death do us part?”
If you look at the statistics — half of all first-time marriages end
in divorce — it seems not too many people say “I do” forever.
The Vow, a movie based on Kim and Krickitt Carpenter’s story,
debuted Feb. 10 and was the top movie of the weekend, making $41.7
million. However, the romantic movie is not even close to telling the
true story of faith and commitment that has kept the Carpenters devoted
to each other for 20 years.
Their saga began 10 weeks after their wedding on Sept. 18, 1993.
They were in a serious automobile accident that left Krickitt with no
memories of her husband or their new marriage. She suffered a severe
brain trauma that wiped out 18 months of her life — the entire time she
and Kim met, dated and married.
While he was still madly in love with her, he was a stranger she wanted nothing to do with.
The glue that kept them together was their faith in Christ and the promise they had made before God.
The Carpenters attend First United Methodist Church in Farmington, N.M.
“Both of us know unconditionally we would not have made it through
this ordeal without the Lord being in the center of it all,” Kim
Carpenter told United Methodist News Service.
Krickitt spent months in a coma and then months more in physical
therapy, but she has never regained those 18 months of memory. Her
recovery was slow, her personality changed and at times she told Kim
she hated him.
Krickitt and Kim Carpenter’s first wedding was Sept. 18, 1993.
“At a low point in my life, I didn’t think this marriage was going
to work. I didn’t have the faith that we were going to make it,” Kim
said. “At the same time, I wasn’t going to leave her in the state she
was in; I was vowing to stay with her.”
Story gets out
The media first learned of their story when a reporter came to
interview Kim about his work as a baseball coach. In the course of the
conversation, the story came out.
When the Carpenters renewed their vows and had a second wedding in
1996, it was a media circus. People were amazed and encouraged by their
story, so Krickitt asked God to use their story to show others his
amazing love and power.
They wrote a book about their story in 2000 and updated the book to coincide with the opening of the movie on Feb. 10.
“We enjoyed the movie but we were a little frustrated by the
artistic license they took,” Kim said. “The dramatization in the movie
was much greater, but it is hard to put 20 years of challenges into 103
minutes.”
Enduring faith
Krickitt’s faith never faltered, and she never considered divorce.
“A Scripture I really hold onto is Philippians 4:13: ‘I can do all
things through him who strengthens me.’ I believed I was called
according to God’s purpose, and I followed with my whole heart,” she
said.
Kim said he has taken offense to some of the media reporting him as “heroic, courageous, manly.”
They insist they are an ordinary couple with two children, Danny and LeeAnn.
“It is amazing we live in a world that there is such a big deal made
about a man and woman who simply did what we said we were going to
do,” Kim said.
The book and the movie are providing a platform for them to talk about their faith.
“People all over the world are seeking something higher, some
message,” Kim said. “We have been very grateful for the prayers and
well wishes we have received. We know the Lord is not going to give us
more than we can handle.”
*Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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