Obama kills romance: Travels on anniversary, makes bride late for wedding

Obama kills romance: Travels on anniversary, makes bride late for wedding

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — Obviously, we're kidding with the headline, but President Barack Obama spent the bulk of his wedding anniversary apart from the first lady this year — and his motorcade nearly ruined another couple's big day, too.

Speaking at a campaign rally on Friday for Massachusetts gubernatorial hopeful Martha Coakley, Michelle Obama said she may not get to see her husband on their anniversary because they're both traveling.

"It just happens to be our 22nd anniversary today," Michelle Obama told the audience. "This is how important these elections are to us, because I might not even see him today because I'm on the road and he's on the road."

It's not the first time their anniversary fell on a less-than-perfect date.

Two years ago, they had their 20th on the same day Obama was roundly criticized for his performance in the first presidential debate with GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Last year, the couple's special date came amid the government shutdown and as the Obamacare website was making headlines for its massive glitches.

The President, who was speaking Friday at a steel factory in Indiana, was congratulated by an audience member after his speech.

"Thank you," Obama said. "Twenty-two years she's been putting up with me."

Obama, who flies back to Washington on Friday night, went on to spell out some advice he recently gave to a young newlywed couple.

"I said, 'It takes about 10 years to train a man properly, so you got to be patient with him because he will screw up a bunch, but eventually we learn, it just takes a little longer. We are not as smart'. So, Michelle has been very patient with me," he said.

Speaking of patience, a groom in Chicago on Thursday waited anxiously at the altar as his bride was stuck in traffic caused by the President's motorcade. The bride-to-be, Debra-Ann Robinson, was stuck on Lake Shore Drive for half an hour, Robinson told Fox 32.

Her groom waited at Cook County's Marriage Court, worried they would miss their slotted wedding time.

Meanwhile, Robinson stood outside her car with other halted commuters, at least one of whom tweeted a photo of the stranded bride in traffic.

The couple eventually got married Thursday, and their dramatic wedding story was featured on the local news that night.

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CNN's Ashley Killough, Chloe Sommers and Eric Weisbrod contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2014 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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