Essence_USA__February_2018

Rhonda McLean & William Craig
The duo
discovered
a dance
partner for life.
The newlyweds met at church
and said “I do” at The Yale
Club of New York City.
“Being married has
elevated our relationship,”
McLean-Craig says.
A sweet
kiss for the
mother of
the bride,
Georgianna
McLean, 91
PHOTOS, REGINA FLEMING PHOTOGRAPHY (4). FLOWER ICON, DIANE LABOMBARBE/GETTY IMAGES.
Rhonda Joy McLean-Craig, 65, is a woman accustomed
to defying the odds. “I integrated my high school when
I was 13, accompanied by a sheriff carrying a gun. I finished
high school at 16 and college at 19. I have two advanced
degrees and have been blessed with a 40-year career,” she
states. However, despite her growing up in the church—her
parents were co-ministers of music for more than 50 years
in their North Carolina congregation—marriage didn’t rank
high on her list of life goals. “I was determined to save the
world and didn’t do much dating until my twenties. I dated
and agreed to marry a man from Kenya,” she says. “My
mother was terrified he would take me away, and for that
and other reasons we ended up breaking up.”
A failed engagement couldn’t slow down the trailblazer.
Rhonda enrolled in Yale University and, after earning her
juris doctorate, moved to New York City to become the first
Black female attorney at a private firm. Once again she was
integrating a new space and weathering the storm that
came with it. She worked her way up to deputy general
counsel of Time Inc., the parent company of ESSENCE.
While Rhonda climbed the corporate ladder, her
future husband, William “Bill” Craig, 71, was experiencing
highs and lows of his own as he healed from two
marriages that ended in divorce—the first in his twenties
and one in his forties. “I am absolutely a romantic. Even
though they didn’t work out, both unions gave the gift of
children,” says the proud father of two.
When Rhonda and Bill finally met, the pieces fell into
place. “When I first saw him, I was 44 years old. I was
visiting his church. I assumed that he was married, so I didn’t
ask his name. It took a couple of years before a mutual
friend realized we were interested in each other. She
introduced us in the fall of 1999 and away we went.”
Although Rhonda initially struggled with Bill’s firm
antimarriage stance, over time she focused on the blessing
of meeting a man who was devoted and who encouraged
her to continue to lead a fulfilled life. “I enjoyed that she
was her own person. I was attracted to her freeness,” says
Bill. Then about ten years ago, something shifted and the
retired nutritionist started asking Rhonda to move into his
Brooklyn home. Much to his chagrin, she refused. “I was
like, ‘I have my own place. I’m in Manhattan. I’m happy to
see you on the weekend.’ I was a busy lady,” she says with a
laugh. It took five years for her to accept. “He had become
my center. I wanted to come home to that every night.”
Bill also came to see matrimony was worth another try. “I
realized some time ago that I wanted to make us ‘official’
and proposed several times,” he says. Rhonda would agree
but they never made plans—until one starry night last spring.
“It was a quiet conversation after dinner, sitting out on the
deck that he had built at his Brooklyn house. That time, the
question felt different and so did my answer.” A month later
the two exchanged vows at The Yale Club of New York City
as Rhonda’s 91-year-old mother, who was the matron of
honor, looked on. The couple kept the guest list to 80,
inviting friends they’d known for at least 20 years. “He
surprised me with a poem he wrote in the 1980’s. There
wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Since then he calls me ‘wifey.’ ”
Bill has settled in to his new marriage and proudly wears his
wedding ring: “I make sure to show off our connection.”
Follow ESSENCE Senior Editor, Lifestyle & Relationships
Charreah K. Jackson on Instagram at @CHARREAH.