The Most Touching Love Story of 2011: Lakeasha and Cris Draft Loved Until the End
My single, saved, and satisfied status does not change the fact that I am a hopeless romantic. I cry while watching romantic comedies and I stay glued to inspiring stories about true love. Please tell me I am not EEW Magazine’s only sappy single lady!
There’s just something so touching, special, and beautiful about seeing a couple devoted to each other through thick and thin. Witnessing genuine devotion between two people in a committed marital relationship helps me continue to believe in the power of love to conquer all.
I don’t know about you, but on this singles journey, positive examples of love uplift and encourage me to keep waiting and trusting God for that special someone for me.
With all the unhappy love stories turning into breakup stories in 2011, child, I was hungry for an endearing, triumphant tale of love. I needed something to balance the negativity like: Kim Kardashian staying married for only 72 days; Eddie Long’s wife Vanessa filing for divorce; Herman Cain’s sexual harassment and adultery allegations; Deion and Pilar Sanders’ divorce drama; and my conversation at Denny's with my girls from church.
I didn’t want to hear anymore mess!
That’s why this single, saved, and satisfied lady felt like she heard a chorus of angels singing when one of my colleagues and good friends, Janet Thomas, sent me an email forward of the story of 38-year-old Lakeasha and 35-year-old NFL veteran, Chris Draft. The young vibrant couple was deeply in love when a Lung Cancer diagnosis invaded their world.
But still, Lakeasha and Chris were determined to fight for life and love together.
On November 27, 2011 they wed each other, though the glowing bride’s cancer-ravaged body had to be pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair. She was only able to muster the strength to walk the final few steps to greet her awaiting groom. Despite the odds and threat of imminent death, the two were joined in holy matrimony in a beautiful ceremony where family and friends witnessed the heartwarming nuptials.
Lakeasha and Cris share their first dance together though she would pass away only one month later.
Then, on December 27, 2011, a month to the date of their ceremony, their wedded bliss came to a screeching halt. Lakeasha Monique Rutledge Draft finally succumbed to her yearlong battle with Lung Cancer.
Her dear husband Chris wrote on special message on his website about his deceased bride of just one month.
“Strong is too pale, too shallow and too small of a word to describe Keasha’s vibrancy,” he wrote. “Quite simply, she was ferocious. She fiercely held onto life, and love with a forcefulness that was absolutely awe-inspiring and completely breathtaking.”
They both held onto that wonderful life and love, which is why their story touched me more deeply than anything else I read in 2011.
I wiped tears away while watching Lakeasha and Chris’s tribute video. I thanked God for letting me see what real love looks life through this tragic, yet triumphant, story. As a single woman, when I watch couples giving up on their marriages regularly, and witness the increasing incidences of divorce, I have to deliberately remain positive and pray away any discouragement trying to creep in.
But Lakeasha and Cris’s story reminds me that there is such a love that exists that will survive anything, even death.
I want that kind of love, the kind that endures for better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.
As we move forward in 2012, let us believe God for true love, the lasting kind.
The kind that Lakeasha and Chris shared until the very end.
The biblical kind of love.
I want the 1 Corinthians 13:8 kind that draws this conclusion: “Love never fails…”
Rest in peace Mrs. Draft.
Ashley Peterson is a staff writer for EEW Magazine. Her goal is to discuss current issues related to single women and help them lead a single, saved, and satisfied like the way God intends.
Email Ashley Peterson:
ashley.peterson@eewmagazine.com
7 Comments
Reader Comments (7)
Hi Ashley! I am a romantic too so don't feel bad :)) I read this story and was rreally touched
Things like this make me think about how important it is to hold on to life. You never know what will happen from day to day. One of my cousins who lives in Connecticut lost her husband to liver cancer and they had only been married about 2 years. Life is too short to focus on the trivial stuff. Great article Ashley!
I get really discouraged and down when I hear about the breakups. I feel like I am losing my hope for a good future with a loyala and loving husband. I know this is not true, that I won't have a man that loves God and me, but seeing all the corruption, dishonesty, and divorce can be really, really depressing.
Ashley...Ashley...Ashley! You got me this time! Tears running and all. This was a great article, though, and thank you for sharing the video.
Now, for Ms. Toya...don't give up! You better trust God for what you want, and He will provide you with one of His greatest creations...the man you were destined to be with. Don't look at the foolishness or heartache others have experienced. Whatever you focus on, you could soon become...
Trust God gal!!
I am over here balling like @Zee! Wow, this story is so beautiful. It reminds me to believe in the power of TRUE LOVE!!!! Ashley this article is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing this story.
Isn't this the best guys? Thanks for reading the article and commenting! True love rocks.
OMG!!! I am also a hopeless romantic and I must say....this really hit the spot for me in terms of what REAL LOVE looks like. It is very easy to be discouraged about love and marriage but I know that I have to allow God to prepare me for something so grande and breathtaking...we all want a love like this but many of us simply aren't ready. Let God get you together and you'll be FOUND before you know it!