METHUEN — The dress blues Justin Petrillo wore at his wedding yesterday were at his new wife’s request.
But the date of the wedding, planned in less than 30 days, was his because Petrillo, a medic in the Army National Guard, will leave for Iraq next month. And his father, Robert Petrillo, has terminal bone cancer.
“I’m home on emergency leave,” Petrillo said. “And the doctor didn’t feel that he would make it until either Christmas or the time I was home.”
For Robert Petrillo, his son’s emphasis on family was appreciated.
“Under the circumstances,” Petrillo said, “this is terrific.”
So with only seven guests, Justin Petrillo, 35, of Tewksbury, married Erica Davis, 29, of Methuen, in a late afternoon ceremony at Methuen City Hall yesterday.
The ceremony was short. Justice of the Peace John Cena presided, using a standard speech to perform the wedding.
But even within those words were apt phrases for Petrillo and Davis, such as a moment to pray “for their love, their safety and the journey they are about to begin,” as well as the certainty that with love “no road shall ever be too rough.”
With their parents at their side, the couple were married in less than 10 minutes. The ceremony was informal and left Davis smiling and laughing afterward as her new husband dutifully moved the City Council’s chairs back into place for a special meeting on water rates that would take place less than an hour later.
It was not a typical wedding day for bride and groom. Petrillo “woke up, cleaned the house” then cut the lawn and ran out to buy flowers and a card for his bride-to-be. Davis worked a half day at the New England Home for the Deaf in Danvers and got stuck in traffic on the way home, her mother, Paula Davis, said.
The couple met about six months ago and hit it off immediately, Petrillo said. They were engaged two months ago. And in the past few weeks, they decided to fast-track the wedding.
Paula Davis said she’s fine with that.
“I am very happy for my daughter. Very happy,” Davis said. “She is thrilled. And she wants him safely home. This is like a mixed-feeling type of deal.”
Petrillo, who served 10 years active duty in the Navy and has been in the Army National Guard for seven years, leaves Massachusetts next week and will be deployed to Iraq soon after. He won’t be home again until early next year. But during his leave he’s been helping his new wife move into their Tewksbury home.
Once he’s home for good, sometime next year, the couple plans on a larger ceremony, one where the bride will actually wear a wedding dress. She wore a sun dress yesterday.
“He wants to see her in her wedding dress next year for the first time,” Paula Davis said.
As for the last-minute wedding, Petrillo said he had no reservations.
“I’ve wanted to marry her ever since I met her,” he said. “I’m totally head over heels in love with this girl.”
Merrimack Valley
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Tim Jean
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Terminally ill father sees Iraq-bound son marry
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