For the estimated 7,500 couples that got married nationwide Wednesday to mark the rare once-a-century repetitive date of Dec. 12, 2012, there should be few forgotten wedding anniversaries.
Some couples who signed their marriage certificates at town halls across Long Island saw the date as weighted with more significance. Others rushed down the aisle to ensure they got hitched before Dec. 21—the date some fear to be the end of the world. Either way, 12-12-12 was a busy day for those in the business of nuptial bliss.
“It took us a long time to get here,” said Katherine Neneck of Seaford as she held hands with her newlywed husband, Bruce Rogers Jr., of Bay Shore, who had been together 20 years before taking the plunge.
North Hempstead Town Clerk Leslie Gross officiated a parade of 10 couples in the gazebo outside town hall in Manhasset for the special date. They were among more than a dozen island-wide that exchanged vows.
Among them were Debbie Barletta of Huntington and Paul Carpenter of Port Washington who opted for a domestic partnership. The couple met in 2005 Barletta told Carpenter she wouldn’t date him until she graduated.
Five months later, Carpenter called Barletta right after she graduated. Once they were ready to tie the knot, the couple was also making up for time apart after Superstorm Sandy.
“I hadn’t seen Debbie too much because I worked every day,” said Carpenter, who’s been working overtime at the town landfill in Port Washington since storm recovery efforts got underway. They got married on his lunch break, but there was never a concern that their marriage would be an afterthought.
“We celebrate our anniversary every month, so we never forget it,” said Barletta.
Some couples may have gotten cold feet. The couple that secured had the coveted 12:12 p.m. appointment didn’t show. The clerk’s office left voice messages and moved on to the next one.
NBC New York reports that another Long Island couple marked that special time of the special day with the birth of their daughter at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola.
At least one couple said they chose the date so they could get married before the world supposedly ends on Dec. 21, the date that the Mayan calendar mysteriously ends and some fear will be the apocalypse.
But judging by the number of people still shopping for Christmas presents, it’s safe to assume most people don’t anticipate the end of the world next week. After that, the next numerically novel date will be Nov. 12, 2013, or 11-12-13.
