Thursday, October 2, 2008

Reverend Rogelio Jimenez

I still giggle a little when I think about that title.
The best thing...
He carried his identification card in his wallet.

He was so proud of it even if it was secret to most people.
His coworkers at ACS had no idea.
And they totally wish they did.
I found an old ID card that didn't have the title "Reverend" but the one he actually carried in his wallet said it.

Many people have wondered how & why.
So...
Roger got this a while ago along with his sister, Grace.
(As she would say "he loved to copy her" ;D)
In the great state of Florida, you must have some sort of license as a medical professional or be an ordained minister to touch people legally.
Roger was a Reiki Master which is a type of healing martial art and in it you touch people. So in order to not get in trouble, you need the above.
And thanks to the internet and the Universal Life Church, Roger became an ordained minister.

Funny thing is you get the funniest things when you are an ordained minister.
Such as a press pass.
Really? Why? I have no idea.
You get a marriage ceremony book.
Some certificates to give to people.
And of course the infamous ID card.

In February of 2007, Roger used his reverend-ness.
He married his cousin Danny to his wife Daisy.
We practiced a lot. We timed him. We made him some notecards. We even Googled lots of cool things to say as well as finding the perfect ceremony order for Danny & Daisy.
He did so well at it.
He got a little nervous which was super rare.
He even messed up a little and instead of freaking out, he smiled and said "Starting over."
He was so tempted to say "By the power invested in me by the internet..." but he held off.
I was so proud of him. And their ceremony was so meaningful.

After the accident, the hospital staff put his wallet in the huge safe at the hospital.
On that Monday, Cecilia and I had to go to the business office to pick it up.
I was a little emotional. I had bought him that wallet.
They had already given me some of the things from his wallet like his driver's license and such.
So I flip it open it up and what do I see under the clear plastic where his license used to be.
"Reverend Rogelio Jimenez"
I start to smile.
Those poor EMT workers and the first people who treated Roger and saw that.
I can just imagine their reaction.
"Oh my, this guy is a reverend. We gotta save him."

I know they did the best for my dear husband.
And as always I was a really proud wife of my Rev. Rogelio Jimenez.

4 comments:

Valerie said...

Star, that's really cool! I had no idea you had to be ordained if you were a reiki master (though it makes sense, since my wedding officiant happens to be both).

How interesting to find that out about Roger..and I'm glad it made you smile :)

Unknown said...

I had heard you mention before that Roger was a reverend but I never knew the story.
It's so cute that he went off and got his 'reverend-ness' and even performed a ceremony for his family members.

I love learning new things about Roger! :)

Katie said...

Thanks for sharing this cool story.

Joanne said...

I had no idea! That's so cool.