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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Officers Club at Camp Williams was turned into a wedding chapel for two Hurricane Katrina survivors who exchanged vows just days after meeting during the evacuation from New Orleans.
The bliss didn't last.
Jacqueline Gordon said she and Ronald Herbert are seeking a divorce. They are separated but still in Salt Lake City.
"It seems like a fairy tale. Guess what -- it ended," Gordon said.
"I never regret anything I do, but it was a mistake," she said. "I didn't have any family here. Neither did he. We were two people needing each other."
The marriage last September made headlines in Utah newspapers. Pastor France Davis, who officiated, said it was a "day of excitement" at Camp Williams, the temporary Utah home for hundreds of hurricane evacuees.
"I agreed to do this because it is my conviction that marriage is a better option than just living together," said Davis, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. "They seemed happy. My gut said, let's hope with them."
But in retrospect, "when people are in a crisis, quick decisions don't last," he said.
Herbert could not be found for comment on the split. Gordon said she's keeping their furniture, while he's keeping an Oldsmobile Aurora.
She is comfortable in Salt Lake City and has no plans to return to New Orleans. Gordon said she works at Newonics Inc., an electronics manufacturer, and has a new boyfriend.
Utah offers plenty to do outdoors, but Gordon won't be stepping into skis.
"I'm 51 years old. I'm not going hiking or rafting. I just want a peaceful existence," she said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
