It was two hours
before his wedding and Shawn Anderson, 37, was wearing the wrong socks: white football socks.

Ronald Simmons, 49, noticed them. He and Anderson are good friends at the Coalition of Service and Charity (COSAC) shelter in Hollywood.

The two friends were in the shelter’s open-air garage on a muggy April afternoon as cars whipped past on Federal Highway. They were surrounded by donated items — Christmas decorations, a rag doll, baby carriages, dog and cat food. Simmons wanted his friend to look good at the ceremony.

"If you are gon’ do it, do it right. I’m gonna put him in some black dress socks and some Kenneth Cole [cologne]. I want him to smell like somebody," Simmons said.

Anderson changed his socks, slid on his shoes and waited. His focus was on the bride’s attire more than his own.

"I am very excited to see her dress," he said. "I hope we match."

Anderson and his bride, 45-year-old Crystal Vogelsang, had agreed not to see each other until the moment the wedding began.

Until he first spoke to Vogelsang, Anderson believed he would always be a bachelor. After the encounter, he felt his future shift.

"I [got] all jittery," he recalled. "My blood pressure went down, and I almost passed out."

They met at the shelter five months ago. He’s normally shy around women, but he wasn’t shy around her. Anderson believes he’s met the person he was meant for.

"I got a feeling, like I found my soul mate," he said.

It’s been a while since Anderson felt connected to someone.

His brothers are in Texas, and they couldn’t be at the wedding. Recently, he lost his mother, whom he was close to.

"I was a mama’s boy," he said.

Before he met Vogelsang, Anderson was solitary in the crowded shelter. With her, he feels like he has a family again and that he’s on the right path.

At 17, he was put on probation for 10 years after he was accused of breaking into a school.

At 19, Anderson tried cocaine, which began a 13-year addiction that left him broke.

Anderson spent his 20s without a stable home or income. He worked as a nursing assistant in a nursing home and as a repairman in an oil field. But the addiction finally wore him down, so he left Texas.

"I needed to get out," Anderson said.

He was 32 when he stopped using cocaine and worked odd jobs to save money to come to Florida and become a licensed practical nurse. It took
two years.

He got on a Greyhound bus and traveled for two days, arriving in Hallandale Beach.

Unable to get the financial aid he needed for nursing school, Anderson found himself with no job and no home. He was forced to live on the streets.

Two years ago, he learned about the COSAC shelter at a local church. He lived at the shelter for seven months before meeting Vogelsang.

Sitting in the parking garage of the homeless shelter just a few hours before his wedding, Anderson was nervous, but he said it was "the good kind" of nervous.

Finally, after 20 years of probation, addiction and homelessness, Anderson said, "I’m very happy."