Couple Finds Bliss Despite Cancer

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  They had planned a wedding next year in her home state of North Dakota, but Jakki Campbell and police training Officer Paul Cardinet decided a week ago that with his cancer growing stronger, they should not wait.

So on Friday, the couple walked down a makeshift aisle strewn with rose petals at the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood station, his fellow officers looking on, hoping Cardinet’s strength would hold up through the brief ceremony.

Married on the same day another LAPD officer was laid to rest, Campbell and Cardinet said both events serve as reminders to live for the moment, to treasure every part of life now for the simple reason that no one knows what might happen next.

“This is today,” Campbell said, adjusting a bridal gown once worn by Cardinet’s aunt. “This is all we have.”

Cardinet’s dress blues hung on a frame almost 40 pounds lighter than before three major surgeries. His hair had been thinned by chemotherapy, which stopped working in March on cancer that since 1997 has spread from his colon to his liver.

But as he vowed his lifelong dedication to his bride, and said, “I do,” Cardinet’s voice was clear and strong.

“He’s smiling,” his aunt, Patricia Matthews, said proudly. “He’s smiling!”

Campbell, 29, and Cardinet, 41, met in 1995 at a Christmas party. She had come to Los Angeles to work as a nanny; among her charges was a boy who on Friday gave her away.

Cardinet’s cancer was diagnosed a year after they met and the couple’s plans for the future were put on hold as he battled the disease. He returned to duty several times, after serving for nine years. He left in April.

They had still hoped to be married at Campbell’s home when Cardinet received the latest bad news last week. His cancer counts were up.

His fellow officers, led by civilian station supervisor Joane Bryant, moved quickly.

By Friday, a cake had been baked, flowers delivered, an honor detail of officers assembled to flank the aisle and a string trio set up and ready to play “See the Conquering Hero Comes,” as Campbell began the procession.

“God is pleased you stepped forward to make this commitment amid adversity,” Rev. William Hilton told the couple. “Marriage is the union of two people who aspire for something greater in life, who are willing to share its sadnesses and misfortunes as well as its pleasures and successes.”

For officers who had watched their colleague’s health grow steadily worse, the celebration was important, a commander said. That a happy occasion fell on the same day as a sad one for the LAPD--which on Friday buried Officer Filbert Cuesta Jr., who was shot to death on duty--made the wedding all the more meaningful, he said.

“It means that in a time of tragedy, there is hope,” said North Hollywood Sgt. Ike Langsam. “In a time of adversity, there is triumph.”

Cardinet, smiling as he shared cake and champagne with his new wife, had a simpler message.

“I’m feeling on cloud nine,” he said. “We have to do what we can today--we can’t wait. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”