During probably the most painful and tough days of Daniel Tomanelli’s life, he continued to maintain Audrey Pence.
“He’s lying there in his hospital bed, asking me if I’m getting enough sleep,” stated Ms. Pence, 26. “He’s asking his brother to go down to the gift shop to pick up a gift for me. He was, quite frankly, being brave and strong not just for me, but for all of us during a really tough time.”
On April 24, 2017, Mr. Tomanelli, now 25, and his father, Dr. Joseph Tomanelli, 56, had been piloting an airplane collectively, because the elder Tomanelli practiced takeoffs and landings close to the Meriden Markham Municipal Airport in Meriden, Conn.
According to the Record-Journal the airplane crashed via a fence and caught hearth. Mr. Tomanelli, who was ejected from the airplane, survived. His father didn’t.
“Audrey came and lived with me in the hospital,” Mr. Tomanelli stated. “She never left my side, and she took care of not just me but my family, and she has remained fiercely loyal to all of us.”
“Once we came out of that,” he stated, “I knew she was the girl I wanted to marry.”
Ms. Pence, an affiliate at Covington & Burling in Washington, and Mr. Tomanelli, a coverage adviser within the workplace of the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force on the Pentagon, first met in July 2015 throughout a research overseas program within the Balkans run via Northeastern University. They every graduated with levels in worldwide affairs. Both additionally minored in Arabic. Ms. Pence additionally has a regulation diploma from Yale.
“From the start he had such an ease about him,” Ms. Pence stated. “I think within our first two conversations, it was if we had been best friends for years.”
Mr. Tomanelli was equally impressed. “I had admired her from afar before we met,” he stated. “I soon found out that she was brilliant and very beautiful, and also very adventurous.
They were engaged in February 2019.
“I took her to a family vacation area in Cape Cod to give her the ring and tried to catch a romantic sunset,” he stated.
But it rained all day. “After a long drive to get there, it was a little disappointing,” Ms. Pence stated. “But at least there was another surprise coming as far as my ring was concerned.”
They had initially deliberate to marry in May in Kauai, Hawaii with as much as 80 friends, however the coronavirus shut down these plans.
They had been married as a substitute on Nov. 1 in a self-uniting fashion ceremony on a patch of sidewalk close to the flagpole outdoors the Moultrie Courthouse in Washington. Twelve friends had been current, together with the bride’s father, Vice President Mike Pence, and her mom, the second woman, Karen Pence, and the groom’s mom, Eve Tomanelli.
“We really wanted to pull off a courthouse wedding, but the courthouses in D.C. are currently closed,” stated the bride, whose father led the couple’s trade of vows. She stated if all goes properly, they are going to have one other larger celebration subsequent summer season in Hawaii.
“I just love Dan,” stated the bride’s mom, Mrs. Pence. “He has a really gentle spirit. He’s friendly and respectful. But the thing I love about him most is that I can tell how much he loves Audrey.”
When requested if her father’s profession has affected her on a regular basis life, Ms. Pence stated merely: “Dan and I started dating before my family stepped onto the national stage, and I think that family comes before politics every day of the week and this is certainly the case with our relationship.”
