It’s Friday, the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance. The sky is overcast, ready to open, ready to cry.

American spirits are strong, coming together on Central Campus for a memorial service. Two people are moving on and beginning their lives together.

On the official day, the nation reflects on terrorists’ acts of hatred. Claire Lee and Kaleb Varrelmann choose to wrap themselves in love instead of hate. By the end of the day, they will be Mr. and Mrs. Varrelmann.

It’s 12:40 p.m. now, a full four hours into the wedding preparations, and between bites from the party platter, Claire is telling the story of the day she met Kaleb.

She’s smiling. Her mom, Paula, is smiling. Her wedding party is smiling.

Kaleb and Claire, recent ISU graduates, worked together on Greek Week Central 1999, but she says it was a while before they started hanging out.

“Then I started to like him,” Claire says. She smiles again. Her hair is curled, pinned, and crowned with a tiara.

The tiara sparkles.

At Greek Week’s Mass Campaniling, Claire flirted with Kaleb. They weren’t kissing, and they wouldn’t for a few more weeks.

“I told him, `You’re missing the best time of your life,'” she says.

They were working on Veishea together when Claire found an article on campaniling in ISU Alumni Association’s Visions magazine.

She put the article in his mailbox as a reminder. For Veishea, they went campaniling.

A few blocks away, the guys stroll into the church. Kaleb says he spent the night hanging out with his family in the hotel room.

So what did you guys do this morning? A chorus of mumbles from the guys. All of the mumbles resemble something to the effect of “absolutely nothing.”

Between bowtying and cufflinking, Kaleb tries to tell about his proposal to Claire.

Kaleb had an elaborate plan, and he got help from his fraternity brothers to pull it off. Luminaries lined the walkway. Twenty rose-bearing men serenaded. Another rose was placed under the Campanile.

Then, at midnight, there was Claire. She said, “Yes.”

At 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, Kaleb meets his bride for the first time again – at the Campanile. They join for pictures in the place that’s been a fixture in their relationship.

Tragedy isn’t lost on the happy couple. Despite the festive mood, Tuesday’s horror is on their minds.

“I talked to our priest about what we should do,” Claire says. “I felt kind of selfish holding my wedding in the middle of all of this.”

The Rev. James Hayes, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 2210 Lincoln Way, helped put the week into perspective.

“In times of tragedy such as this, we should celebrate things like love,” Hayes says.

He adds that the week was disheartening, at times, and difficult. The wedding is something he’s been looking forward to all week. Tonight, they’ll say a prayer in recognition of the victims of the attacks. Tonight, they’ll celebrate love.

“We’ve been weeping as a nation in grief this week, and at the wedding people will be weeping with joy,” Hayes says. “It’s important to realize that those tears come from the same place.”

At 7 p.m. on the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, the wedding begins, and American life goes on.