24 Years Of Marriage

It was a dark and gloomy day. The rain seemed never ending. She knew that no good could come of the weather, she was afraid it was a portend of things to come....

Sounds rather like a victorian novel, doesn't it? That is exactly how my wedding day, 24 years ago today, started.

So, let me tell you a story about a man named Jed Tony...

The day of my wedding dawned rainy and gloomy. I was afraid that the weather would ruin the whole thing. I drove over to the hairdresser's to have my hair fixed for my big day. I made sure I carried an umbrella so my hair would not be ruined by the constant drizzel. Tug, pull, brush, curl, spray, pin, spray. I felt like a child's doll who was having her hair brushed after many days of neglect. As I looked into the mirror, I decided it was all worth the painful scalp. I had the curly, victorian upsweep that I had imagined for my special day.

Leaving the hairdressers, there was a momentary respite from the rain. It lasted until I entered the house, then began again.

A little later, the limo (which had been a wedding present from my Mother's best friend Jeannie) came to pick us up. As luck would have it, the rain had again abated temporarily. I was in the process of taking my hat out to place it in the limo, when a gust of wind came along and snatched it out of my hand...and dumped it right in a muddy water puddle. Using a word I don't normally, I threw my hands up in the air and said "The whole ****ing thing is ruined!" The limo driver rushed to open the door as I retrieved my hat from the ground. Shaking off the water, I tossed the hat in the back seat. Stressed much??? No, not me!

My Mother, maid of honor (Tiffany), and I climbed in the limo. The driver suggested that we open the bottle of champagne that was awaiting us for after the ceremony. He said he would go purchase another one while he was waiting for us. Me, not being a fan of wines in general, had no problem drinking a couple glasses of what he offered! It was much appreciated and helped calm my nerves.

Jump forward in time to saying the vows, as everything up to that went as expected. Just as we turned toward each other, a ray of sunshine shone through the stained glass window. I felt like it was God giving a blessing to our marriage...something I felt we needed after the morning I had had!

Flash forward again...we're driving down the road. My (now) Husband and the best man (Darryl) are standing up, heads out the sunroof toasting the cars that go by. Mind you, the wind is sluicing the wine off the top of their glasses...right onto my maid of honor and me!!

We stopped at a store halfway to the reception hall, to get the guys another bottle of wine (we girls were wearing half of what they already had). Remember all the rain? Did you know that rain makes things slippery??? Well, you guessed it, just as I was walking in the entrance to the store...down I went! Mud and grease all up the back of my skirt! Truely, at this point, I just didn't care anymore!

When we arrived at the reception hall, my attendants helped me bustle my skirt up and... lo and behold...you couldn't see the mud! Awesome! The rest of the evening went as expected...rushing by in a blur of family, friends and dancing!

Following are a few of my wedding pictures:

Some things haven't changed. I often wag my finger at Tony, telling him he shouldn't do this, that or the other. By the way, yes, he shoved the cake in my face. That hasn't changed either, he still doesn't listen to me!
Our first dance as a married couple. We still love to dance together! There is a moral to my above story. My wedding day was full of up's and down's. Moments of joy and moments of despair/anger. In the end, it pretty much went as expected. That pretty much sums up our last 24 years. We've had great highs, and some very bad lows. Most importantly, we have shared a LIFE together. Life is never easy and neither is marriage. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. To paraphrase Stitch from Lilo and Stitch: My family is sometimes broken, but it's good...yeah, good.

Thank you honey for the last 24 years and here's to 24 more!