Valentine's Day a bittersweet memory for LI couple

To Ingrid and Sunshine Lemme of Montauk, celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary Sunday on Valentine's Day is a combination of joy and sadness.

That's because the Lemmes were one of about 60 couples who got married on top of the World Trade Center on Feb. 14, 1999, as part of a 24-hour wedding marathon.

"Our wedding anniversaries are always bittersweet, thinking of how we stood on the top floor observation deck of the South Tower, and dealing with the heart-wrenching memories of 9/11," said Ingrid Lemme, 56, a marketing executive at Gurney's Inn Resort in Montauk. "It's hard to imagine that the site of our wedding is gone."

She said in all these years, neither she nor her husband has been able to go back to Ground Zero, or even watch their wedding video.

"It's just too hard for us," said Sunshine Lemme, 63, who is an emergency manager and firefighter EMT with the Montauk Fire Department. "When I first saw the 9/11 footage on TV, I wanted to be a respondent, but I was 100 miles away, and I realized that with all the chaos in the city they didn't need more people showing up from outside."

The Lemmes still have the "Lifetime Passes" to the top of the World Trade Center that they received on their wedding day, which were good for every Valentine's Day the rest of their lives.

"It is so sad to see these passes every Valentine's Day, knowing we can never return to that place again, and also seeing the latest images of 9/11 which have recently come out," said Ingrid Lemme. "We'd like to see a museum built at Ground Zero, to commemorate the victims, and I would donate my wedding tape as a reminder of when this tower stood tall and solid."

She and her husband, who met in 1991, had each been married several times before.

"We wanted something different, and we heard about this wedding marathon where couples got married every 20 minutes around the clock, and it seemed like the perfect place, on top of the world," said Sunshine Lemme. "I'm used to going up 100-foot ladders in my firefighting work, and I love heights."

The Lemmes were allowed to bring six guests for their 10:40 a.m. ceremony. "It was clear and cool up there that day, and the views were amazing," said Sunshine Lemme. "After the service, we all took the elevator to the top where the TV towers were, to take photos, along with all the tourists."

Sunday at Gurney's, the Lemmes will join 35 other Long Island couples who will renew their vows before Judge Jim Ketcham of Montauk.

"It's hard that we have no place to go back to, to remember out wedding day, but at least we both know, that our love is here to stay," said Ingrid Lemme.