I had a friend that worked with me at Dairy Queen. Her name was Cathy, too. She was older than I was, married with two small children. She once worked at a florist, so together, she and I made all of the floral items. Yes, with silk flowers. My colors were to be red and white. Among sending invitations, ordering the cake, choosing a gown, planning the music, and the reception, we somehow pulled it off, just in time for that August 23,1986 date, which is also my parents' wedding anniversary. I thought it turned out beautifully. My in-laws did go and even did their part with the rehearsal dinner! I'm sure that was the first time they had been in a Baptist Church. We had almost two-hundred guests in attendance!
We did receive some bad news the day before the wedding. My Great-Grandmother had passed away. She is the one who had been married for seventy-five years. My Great-Grandpa had already gone to be with Jesus. "Baugh", as we called her, is also the one who had made me the satin and lace-covered Brides' Bible, which I proudly carried it with my bouquet. We had to halt everything, and have a family discussion. Should we continue with the wedding? Everybody agreed that Baugh would most definitely want us to continue our celebration of love and joy with a wedding ceremony. It was difficult, but we kept remembering the fact that she was only thirteen when she married, and she and Grand-Dad made it through all of those years together. We had my cousin Dudley, to officiate the wedding. He was the pastor of a Baptist Church in Oklahoma. The most important song for us, that was sung during the ceremony, was "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do". That was and still is, our song. The reception was just as beautiful.
Timmy and I never went to any prom. We were already engaged, and needed to save our money. We paid for approximately seventy-five percent of the entire wedding, including the girls' dresses and the mens' tuxedos. Our parents didn't have a lot of money, and I had always wanted a church wedding. We had little money left for a honeymoon, which was alright. We had planned to drive three hours to Oklahoma City and stay there for a few days. However, when "Baugh" passed away, I wanted to get back for her funeral. We decided to stay one night in Lawton, Oklahoma, which was only forty-five minutes away. Therefore, we really never had a honeymoon. On our tenth and fifteenth wedding anniversary, we went back to that same hotel, staying overnight in the exact same room, where we had spent our wedding night. We laugh about being hungry after the wedding on our wedding night, so we stopped on the highway, went inside, and ate at McDonald's!
We made it back to see my beloved Great-Grandma laid to rest, beside her husband, to whom she was married for more than seventy-five years of her life. All I could think was how she was now reunited with my Great-Grandfather. That brought me joy that masked the pain of losing her.
No comments:
Post a Comment