As she planned her wedding, Austinite Jenifer Jacobus faced a new health challenge. She could still wear her boots, but walking was a little tough. In 2014, Jacobus was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that attacks one’s central nervous system and damages the flow of information between the brain and the body.
“I went from being a healthy mother of two, to being in a wheelchair,” Jacobus says. “I felt like a computer shutting down. Everything was shutting down, my legs, my feelings, my eyesight, even my speech. It was like a nightmare.”
The doctor told Jacobus she would not get better, but she believed otherwise and kept her faith. Jacobus ruled out a big, fancy wedding. She settled on going to the Capitol to say her vows. But she still wanted everything to be just right.
Her ideal wedding included pictures taken while wearing her white gown. But her physical condition made it impossible for her to put the gown on herself. When she said her vows, the gown was left hanging in her closet.
But Jacobus was determined to have her dream wedding pictures. She says she needed many miracles – like being able to walk again.
“God did the miracle and I could stand up,” she says.
Knowing she had to walk, Jacobus turned to her cowgirl boots for support. While others may simply see a woman in a white dress and boots in her photos, Jacobus says she something different – a miracle.
Written by Dani Matias.
