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Bride's 1st Dance With Husband Tragically Is Her Last

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The Associated Press

Published: February 10, 2008

DAVIE - It was the first dance of a marriage that was not to be.
Kim Sjostrom and Teddy Efkarpides had been married for less than an hour Jan. 19 when the bride crumpled in her husband's arms during a rendition of a Greek song that means simply, "Love Me." At 36, Sjostrom was dead from heart disease.

The couple was married three years to the day after their first date. Sjostrom had wanted a real-life version of the film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which played in the background as friends fixed her hair and makeup before the ceremony.

The wedding had became a project at Davie Elementary School, where Sjostrom taught first grade. Fellow teachers provided the wedding gown, the flowers, decorations and one of them, an ordained minister, performed the ceremony.

Sjostrom carried blue and white flowers during the ceremony - the colors of the Greek flag. As they exchanged vows, Efkarpides, a 43-year-old carpenter and Navy veteran, wept with happiness.

The joyous mood of the celebration was soon transformed when Sjostrom complained of being lightheaded during the couple's first dance.

Efkarpides thought his wife, a diabetic, needed sugar. She collapsed.

Efforts to revive her by wedding guests, paramedics and doctors at a nearby hospital all failed.

She had a previous cardiac episode in her 20s and was a poster child - literally - for juvenile diabetes, relatives and friends said. Efkarpides recalled seeing the poster featuring Sjostrom on New York subways.

Friends mourn Sjostrom, knowing she was probably pleased with her last moments. She had her Greek-themed wedding, complete with Greek husband.

"It was perfect for her," said Dominic Church, the minister friend who performed the marriage ceremony.

The loss stings Efkarpides.

"The only official document that can bear the name she wanted to have is the death certificate," he said.

He consoles himself by reading a list of "101 Reasons Why I Love You" that Sjostrom gave him their first Christmas together. "No. 1. You make me smile."

No. 98 is especially difficult, the one not meant to be: "You're the one I want to grow old with."

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