OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

It hardly seems possible that it’s been 37 years since I married the love of my life. Then other times, I can hardly remember when we weren’t together. We met when I was 19 and he was 23. I was a sophomore in college and he had returned from Vietnam and was working at the local Fiat dealership. Our first date was to a Carpenter’s concert at Western Kentucky University. I fell madly in love with this person. After a few weeks I went to spend the weekend with my parents in Murfreesboro, TN. On Saturday afternoon I made a quick trip to the grocery for my mother. On returning, as I drove down the street, I saw this little red convertible in the driveway. I thought it was a friend of my brother, who had a similar car. What a surprise when I walked into the living room and found my handyman sitting there talking with my parents. Plans were for me to move back to my parents for the summer, but I couldn’t stand to leave him. My roommate and I moved out of the dorm into a mobile home and got jobs as waitresses at one of the nicer restaurants in town. I worked mornings (breakfast & lunch) and she worked evenings and nights (dinner). We didn’t see much of each other except for our one day off a week. Most evenings, handyman would come over after work and we would watch TV (the fellow who lived next door had an extra one and loaned it to us for the summer). It must have been around the first of July that Handyman went on a camping trip with some of the guys who lived next door to us. About the time he left I got sick. He called (long distance-this was before cell phones) to check in with me and when he found out I was sick, he cut his trip short and came back early. He knew I wanted to be with my mother, so he drove the 100 miles to get me there. I think this is when I really knew that I wanted to spend my life with him. Toward the end of July, handyman came in one night and asked me if I wanted to marry him ---- on September 9th (just 6 weeks away)! Of course, I said “yes!” We called my parents and told them the news and that we were just going to have a simple ceremony but wanted them to attend. An hour later my mother called back. She said that she knew I had always wanted a church wedding and that’s what I was going to have. It was a mad dash to get everything together in six weeks for a church wedding. Since my parents lived out of state most of the arrangements were left to me. My mother did request that we pick out my dress together (I know she was afraid that I would pick out something AWFUL). I went ahead and “window” shopped for a dress and found one that I just loved. My mother came up that weekend and she was surprised that she liked it as well. I ordered printed invitations, napkins, and the wedding cake. I picked out the tuxedos (I never did like bow ties, so I found a tux that came with a regular tie.), made arrangements with the church, organist and photographer, and bought my trousseau. We were married on a beautiful fall day in the church I had joined when I was in middle school. It was in this church that we raised our daughters and where our oldest daughter married her husband before the same altar where we were wed. We vowed to be together “Till death do us part.” I pray that we still have a long life ahead of us to enjoy our family ---daughters, son-in-law(s), grandchildren and hopefully, one day great grandchildren. We have been blessed!
Happy Anniversary to my Handyman!