Paula Scafe and Donald Gallegos celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary walking through downtown Austin as they practiced social distancing amid growing coronavirus concerns. (Nexstar Photo/Jacqulyn Powell)
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — An Austin couple is not letting the coronavirus outbreak put a damper on their 25th wedding anniversary.
Paula Scafe and Donald Gallegos were married on St. Patrick’s Day in 1995. They were one of the last couples to wed on the floor of the Texas Senate inside the State Capitol.
The couple spent Tuesday night walking along the pedestrian bridge downtown over Lady Bird Lake, dressed in a tux and wedding dress. They brought with them a bottle of their favorite champagne to share between them.
“We wanted to be at a place where we could enjoy the city. And hopefully it wouldn’t be a lot of people out. And we could, you know, keep that social distancing thing going and look at the town and remember 25 years ago,” Gallegos said.
Pedestrians looking to get out and practice social distancing walked along the bridge and spotting the couple mistook them for newlyweds, Scafe said.
“They think we just got married,” she laughed.
The couple has a son who is immunodeficient, so they pulled all three of their children out of school last week. Amid the uncertainty of the emerging COVID-19 cases in Texas, they were not sure how they were going to be able to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, but they discovered an affordable hotel room downtown to spend the momentous occasion.
“The original plan was maybe to have a party,” he said. “And then we immediately thought that they realized that that wouldn’t be possible.”
“He has a history history of respiratory illness, and so, a lot of thought went into this and we’re just trying to make the best of it,” Gallegos said, adding that hotel management indicated only 17 of the rooms were filled due to the pandemic and cancellations stemming from South By Southwest.
Gallegos said the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent reaction from the Central Texas community gives the couple hope.
“If anything, our anniversary helps us be more hopeful that we’re gonna get through this,” Gallegos said.
“25 years is a big deal,” Gallegos said. “We’re really proud and feel lucky and grateful that we’ve, you know, we’ve done this.”
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