DannyBoyinExile

They say that a German Rottweiler makes an excellent companion – once you show it who the boss is. My wife is also German, so I suppose the same principle applies to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t take her long at all to show me who the boss was… haha
There are no longer “proxy marriages” in the State of Texas, unless you are an active duty military person. All marriages must be performed in person (even in prison) – and I was surprised at how easy it is to get married while living in TDCJ. There is a procedure to follow, but if you DO follow it, they will generally go out of their way to be helpful to you – even if they secretly wonder who in their right mind would want to marry you in the first place…
The biggest step was to find an outside official to actually perform the ceremony. Some people prefer to have their own ministers do it (it IS a religious ceremony, after all), but there are also numerous people who will travel all over the state – all over the country, even – to help you. My wife hired a lady named Wendy Wortham. She is a minister who has performed marriages on practically every unit in Texas – and many other states besides. She knows the procedure very well, can answer any questions, and knows how to deal with anything that may come up. On my scheduled wedding day, for example, every prison in TDCJ was placed on lockdown – but she told my wife not to worry, guided her through it, and it DID take place, thanks to her and Warden Bowers. (Believe me, he did NOT want to be the person to tell a crazy German lady that, after flying all the way from Germany, we couldn’t get married after all!) Wendy performed the ceremony, and we are officially married now. (Me and Yvonne, I mean, not me and Wendy!) Inmates in TDCJ aren’t allowed to receive a ring – even if we get married here – but she was kind enough to include a ring for my wife, as part of her fee.
One thing that struck me as funny, is that she said I could kiss the bride – but it had to be a closed-mouth kiss, as any exchange of bodily fluids would be considered a “conjugal visit”. I, for one, had no objection to a conjugal visit, but she explained that it would void the wedding, as it’s against policy. (By hiring someone like Wendy, you will know things like that.)
Everything went fine, I’m now a married man – and I’m spending my honeymoon on lockdown… But I am grateful that even as an inmate I was able to have this experience. A special thanks to Wendy, for all of her assistance, and even to Warden Bowers (who I’d never even met before) for allowing us to complete it, even though so much was going on that day.
It’s official now, to have and to hold, to taunt and to scold, and I’ll try to be the best husband I can be. What can I say? Even a trashcan gets lucky sometimes, and gets something valuable thrown into it… So says DannyBoy.