Mono Monday : : Wedding

When I hear about some of the wedding productions today I:
1) Feel my age
2) Can't help wondering if the basic idea gets lost in the shuffle
3) Believe that first and foremost, a wedding is a celebration of love and commitment to be shared with family and friends.
4) It is also a celebration of joy and should certainly reflect that

Our 59th anniversary is coming up in just 9 days. We will probably forget it. It is something of a minor miracle too, considering that I was just 19 and John was 23 when this picture was taken. The throwing of the garter is a bit dubious, but certainly the look on John's face reflects joy?

It is a tribute to my parents that they had the faith in us that we might not have realized ourselves. They didn't freak out when we announced our plans to them, nor did they lecture us. They accepted our assurances that we knew what we were doing (did we?) and that I would finish college. I think it was their faith, and their example,  that saw us through some of the difficult moments and taught us that marriage is work, friendship, communication and compromise as well as love.

I remember planning our wedding with my mother on holiday breaks from school. We chose the wedding gown, together, but I think it was my mother who made most of the arrangements. We got married in the church I grew up attending in Pasadena, my uncle Mac drove us to my parents' house in his elegant Cadillac, and we had cake and champagne together with the wedding guests. Then I went up to my bedroom, changed to my 'going away' outfit and John and I left in his '56 chevy for our honeymoon, a trip up the coast, with stops along the way, to Berkeley. It wasn't until later that we realized that in his haste to get away before his buddies tied cans to the back of his car or wrote 'Just Married' on the back window, that we never said a proper good-bye to Mom and Dad. 

I will always regret that, but I hope that in the years since that day, we justified their confidence in us.