The Power of Love - Excerpt from Snow Phoenix and Me

Father Clark Buckingham, the bespectacled, rotund Caucasian head priest of the church, could not believe his ears when we went to his office to announce our intention to him.

"You like me to do what?" he asked, adjusting his glasses to have a better look at Suet-foong and me. He was clad in a black cassock, his fading black hair flecked with gray, and in his bearded face a pair of blue eyes - they were wide. I think he was stunned.

"We'd like you to marry us," I repeated.

"I can't marry you two just like that," the fifty-something priest replied. "There are procedures to be followed. Besides, are you Christians?"

"No, we're human beings," said Suet-foong matter-of-factly.

Father Buckingham smiled. "Yes, I can see that."

"Love is above religion and race, Father, and we are deeply in love," I declared. "We came here because we want our lifelong commitment to each other to be officiated by someone who has the authority to perform the sacred wedding rites: you. Kindly spare us a few minutes of your precious time, we shall be forever profoundly grateful."

Will Father Buckingham agree to the lovers' request to marry them? Read all about it in Chapter 9 of "Snow Phoenix and Me", available now in Amazon.com and Kindle!