Picture Them Shocked
Posted March 26, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
This is the story of true love and true faith and what seemed like the wedding disaster of the century.
When Karen and Tony Nordlinger of Manasha, Wisconsin exchanged their vows in 2006, they did what every newlywed couple does – hire a professional photographer to take their wedding pictures.
But shortly after the ceremony, cameraman Charles Boesen was forced to give them the worst possible news. Someone had stolen his equipment and the Nordlinger photos that were still with it.
The couple was bitterly and understandably crushed that there would never be any evidence of their special moment to show friends, family and even one day, their own kids.
They’d long ago given up on the idea, when they received a bizarre phone call last week and something else they never expected – their wedding pictures.
Where did they come from? A man named Leslie Mason.
But he wasn’t the thief.
Mason owns a vacant lot in the city where the couple said their “I do’s” and was cutting down some trees a few days ago when he spotted something odd.
He put down his equipment and was startled to find a camera lying in the grass. It contained the address of Boesen, who promptly went to get it, took out the still enclosed memory card and plopped in into his computer.
To his amazement, the Nodlingers’ union popped up on the screen.
“I almost cried,” the photog admitted. “I’m thinking, this bride is going to be so overjoyed when she finds out.”
It’s not only the fact that the pictures were found but that they were intact that many consider nothing less than a miracle.
“There’s no telling how long that camera was down here,” Boesen concludes. “What’s amazing is how those pictures survived the elements – the rain, the snow, the freezing temperatures, right alongside the lake.”
And though the thief has never been found, the still happy couple is now happier than ever.
“We just thought, ‘Oh well, we’ve got our memories,'” Karen Nordlinder reflects. “This is just something I never thought we’d see. Ever.”
Which just goes to show that when it comes to wedding pictures, you never know what’s going to develop.
