KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wednesday, Feb. 14, started with love and excitement. It was Valentine’s Day. It was the day of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebrations. The weather couldn’t have been better for the city to come together. It was also a great day for a wedding.
Bob and Sami Whyldgrr decided after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl that they were ditching their small courthouse wedding and taking their nuptials to Union Station. They wanted to get married at the parade surrounded by family, friends and hundreds of Chiefs fans like themselves.
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"When we realized that the Chiefs were going to the Super Bowl in the potential of a parade on Valentine's Day, we just started talking and we were like, 'Well, I guess we can get just get married at the parade,'” Sami Whyldgrr said.
They had an aisle on the lawn of the World War I Memorial. Sami had a sequin Chiefs dress and a veil. They found someone to officiate. Someone made them a Lombardi trophy called the “Love-Bardi” to commemorate their day. Their guest book was a Chiefs helmet signed by guests. Their special day, albeit last minute, was unfolding to be memorable.
Until the memories were altered by the shooting that killed one and injured 22 people.
Sami and Bob Whyldgrr were waiting for their ride to show up so they could leave the rally when chaos took over. Bob said he thought the gunfire was fireworks.
"There was so many sirens and so much police presence and ambulances and we just knew that something very bad happened. And it's just made all of our hearts sink and very sad" Sami Whyldgrr said.
No one imagines their wedding day will be taken over by a mass shooting. Unfortunately, that is now the story that will forever be tied to the Whyldgrrs' memory of the day.
“It's very sad and very heartbreaking. And if anything, we just, we'd really just hope our story may just be a little bit of light to this very sad ending of a day and just know that there was so much love and great memories,” Sami Whyldgrr said.
Bob Whyldgrr said it is still hard to process what happened that day.
Sami and Bob Whyldgrr want to emphasize they are not trying to overshadow the impact of the shooting, but hope their story reminds Kansas City that good things do happen here.
