My name is Brian Claggett. My name is Mallory McCall Elizabeth Heath.
And it goes back to when Mallory was about two weeks old and her mother gave me a prescription
to go fill the drugstore. So I went up there and gave the pharmacist the script and waited
while he filled it, gave it back to me, I took it back to the car. When I got in the car
I looked down and there was her name, Mallory Heath. It was the first time I had actually
seen her name and it just hit and I sat there in that stupid car out in front of the drug
shop over there on 12th Avenue for a good 45 minutes and just cried because I was just
so damn happy that you were here. And now I have felt that way every day for the last
24 years and still do. And you dads, you dads know that you know there's nobody that is
ever going to be good enough for your little girl, right? You know that. I knew that, you
all know that. And we all dread that day when they reach a certain age and the boys start
coming around. And that day arrived for me when Mallory was 15 and there was a knock
at the door and in walks this skinny high school kid named Brian and he's got a chocolate
pie, which was Mallory's favorite. And he walks in and he goes, Mallory, I made this
for you. And she took one look at him and went, oh no thank you, I don't like chocolate.
And we all looked at each other and went, what? So we knew something was up then. We
met at Booker T. Washington High School, Booker T. We had a class together, a student
in government class. He invited her to his honors program. When it was over, she ran
out of the gym. And all these people were coming up to hug him and she left. And so
she was running down the hall and I'm going, what are you doing? I'm like, come back in.
You need to say hi and congratulations. And she turned around and her eyes were full of
tears. What is it, what? And she's like, you don't get it. And I'm like, I don't get what.
And she said, he's leaving. He's going to leave. And she said, he's great, but he's
going on. And I said, what do you mean? She said, mom, he's like one in a million. And
I said, if that's what you think, then you owe it to yourself to turn back around and
go in that room. Because if you don't, you could regret that for the rest of your life.
Well, before she could even do anything, Robert was on the spot. He said, Debbie, where are
you? And where's Mallory? And I said, she's right here with me. Why? And he said, because
Brian Clackin was looking for her. And he was in that room full of all those hundreds
of people. And the next thing I knew, there he was, right out in the parking lot looking
for my daughter. And so I kind of knew then, you know, that this was maybe something that
when you see it, you know it. And so it's proved to be true. And tomorrow you become man and
wife.
The union of husband and wife and heart, body and mind is intended by God for their mutual
joy, for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity. And when it is
God's will for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love
of the Lord.
Before I begin this very brief homily, I would like to share with you an old French custom.
When a man asked a woman to marry him, he always began by saying, I would like to begin with
you a conversation that will last a lifetime. And implicit in this notion of a conversation
is the mutual sharing. And also implicit in the notion of a conversation is the person
that you're speaking to is listening to what you're having to say. And when you have that
kind of conversation, that mutual sharing fosters trust, intimacy and most important
love.
Who presents this woman to be married to this man, her mother and I?
Marriage is like a dance. And you will begin with a lot of energy, but not much rhythm.
And you will step on each other's toes a lot throughout the marriage. Now, initially
you won't bother, but after a while you may get tired of that. And you may want to say,
I want to end the dance. When you feel tempted to say, I'm through with the dance, pull your
partner close and you say, let's do it again. And let's do it again. And let's do it again.
And let's do it again. Until we get it right. And hopefully, 50 years from now, you'll still
be dancing.
If you are sacrificial in your feelings toward each other, if you're given, if you're forgiven,
if you're not selfish, if you are giving all of yourself over to the other, and you each
ask the question, do you love me? The answer will be a heart attack, yes. But at the end
of the day, 50 years from now, when you look at each other across the dinner table and
you say, who do you think you married on June 2nd, 2012? My hope and prayer for you is that
you will both be able to say honestly and heartfelt that you are my friend, my lover,
without whom my life would be meaningless. You can say that with honesty and conviction.
And you truly understand who each other is and why you're here tonight. You'll find
that your marriage is just great no matter what's happened, no matter what life throws
at you. If you can laugh at it, you're going to be okay.
No more questions. Who do you say that I am? Do you love me? Do you know how to dance?
Do you know how to laugh? I want you to ask us first two questions of each other often
throughout the marriage and keep dancing and laughing. And if you do, you will have the
most wonderful relationship in the world. God bless you both.
I Mallory take thee, Brian. I Mallory take thee, Brian. To be my wedded husband. To be
my wedded husband. I, Brian, take thee, Mallory. To be my wedded wife. To have and to hold.
In this day forward. For better, for worse. For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in
health. To love and to cherish. Till death do us part. According to God's holy ordinance.
And thereto I give thee my trawl. Thereto I give thee my trawl.
I like that Mallory is smart but also goofy at the same time and always trying to push
me beyond my comfort zone and push me to be a better person. But at the same time I feel
like I can be myself around her. Brian has the kindest heart of anyone I
know. Love my love, follow your heart. I knew that I loved Brian. My mom had a heart
attack when I was a sophomore in high school. We had only been dating like starting that
summer. She's in a hospital about to have bypass surgery and we're in Pensacola and
it was by far the hardest time of my life. He left school to come see my parents and
to call me to reassure me that everything was going to be okay. That's what I knew.
He was just the most kindest person I've ever met.
As the two of you have developed and become flowers, I'm happy to see you be okay together.
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mallory and Brian Platt.
He's always been kind hearted towards everyone that he knows and everyone that he meets and
takes care of and that's why I know that you're going to be a great spouse for Mallory. Mallory,
I know you're going to be a great spouse for Brian because you have the fortitude to
always be an encourager. You've always been behind him to push him along the way too and
you have to know that together they complement each other.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Dr. Brian Lee Platt and his new bride Mallory
McCall Elizabeth Heath Platt.
There's plenty of days that I wish that I had a brother. To be able to say that I get
to get this guy as a brother, it's an honor.
You're the smartest person I know, you're the honest person I know and you're the most
loving person I know. Every day I try to be a man like you and being able to have a sister
and I love her so much and knowing that she's with you, I can't ask for anything better
and I'm glad that you're in our family.
Mallory has always been an absolutely wonderful person and someone I've always idolized and
looked up to. Brian came along and he was always the most patient, kind person. He loved
my sister unconditionally even when she was in absolute terror. He stuck around through
all of that and he was always wonderful to her and he became another older brother to
me. My sister has her one true love in her life and someone who is so perfect for her
and knowing Brian, knowing how perfect Mallory is for him as well.
Keep you around, keep you around, keep you around, keep you around.
I've known him not as long as I've known y'all, but he is just as part of the Freest family
as any one of the he's or any one of the Freest fans.
And I found out tonight why that is because I've been hearing all these wonderful stories
from people from your past and it's very obvious that everybody loves you and it's just a nice
warm nurturing foundation. I know that long after I'm gone Mallory is going to be okay
because she's got Brian and I know Brian is going to be okay because he's got Mallory
and they're going to take care of one another, they're going to look out for one another
just as they have for the past nine years that they're going to support each other in
their dreams and their aspirations just as they have for the last nine years and everything's
going to be okay.
All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love.
Love is all you need and that's it.
