32 Years of Love and Memories

Hi all, I thought I would do a little anniversary post today. My day started out just lovely with my wonderful hubster bringing me coffee and breakfast in bed. This goes with the flowers he brought home with him last night.

He knows I prefer bright unusual flowers that I can arrange myself, he outdid himself this year. We are planning on a casual dinner out tonight, most likely at a fun little Italian restaurant that our son Andy first took us to called Roman Cucina. They have the best shrimp and pasta in a lemon cream sauce.
So I made my hubs a little card to commemorate this special day:

I used the sketch from Inchie INKlings and the Hero Arts clear set Mix and Match Elements. The patterned paper is a scrap from the famous scrap basket of Jacqueline.
So let's leave you with a story (it's a bit lengthy, but worth it) of just one of the difficulties we faced with our wedding. When you see the photo, another difficulty (a photographer lacking in any talent for photography) will be very obvious.

So here we are, the happy couple just moments after exchanging our vows at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, Calif.  So do you notice anything interesting or unusual about my sweetie's tux? Of course other than the awful shade of chestnut brown- all I can say is the 70s were a very awkward decade when fashion totally took a hike! Getting back to the tux, you'll notice that my sweetie is 6 foot 4 inches tall and his tux jacket was made for someone about a foot shorter. But that's okay because his lovely peach ruffled shirt, yes that's right I said peach and ruffled- it was the 70s, I take no responsibility. Anyhoo, the peach ruffled shirt was at least 3 sizes too big.  Here's how the story of tuxes happened.....
We went to a very reputable tux shop, they were in all the wedding magazines and of course they had the coveted chestnut brown tux that I just had to have. All the guys went in for their fittings and got their orders in with plenty of time to spare. Check the tuxes off my list of things to do. We did our wedding on a shoe-string, the greatest expense being my dress which I found on sale for $350.00. (We should have spent a bit more than the $100.00 we did on the photog though). So, I'm feeling pretty good about everything with a check mark next to everything on the wedding preparation list.
Then came the rehearsal, the night before the wedding. All the guys were scheduled to pick up their tuxes on the way to the church that evening. When they arrived at the shop in the Westminster Mall they were greeted with sheer bedlam. Instead of the tidy appointments they had arranged, the shop was filled with men from 2 other weddings and a smattering of awkward teens looking for their prom tuxes. The store clerks had given up all hope, they had none of the tuxes ready due to some MAJOR scheduling snafu at the home office.
My hubby-to-be, his dad, my dad and our 4 groomsmen left the store and hurried to the rehearsal, keeping very tight-lipped about the tux festivities they had just witnessed. After the rehearsal and the lovely dinner made by my mother-in-law all the guys were heading back to the shop to see if any tuxes had materialized.
I had been made aware of the situation and went home to have a minor pity party.
The scene at the tux shop had not improved, who knows what became of the store clerks but our guys being resourceful took matters into their own hands because they just couldn't wait to wear those stylin' tuxes. Al's brother Ron, who was 16 at the time went in the back of the store and started tossing out pants and jackets and vests and shirts, anything he could find in the right colors. (I believe they could have rectified my ill-advised color scheme at this point but I don't hold it against them). So there they are standing in the lobby of the tux shop at the mall, trying on pants and jackets to get something that would come close to a fit. Now at this time there were 3 wedding parties and 3 random teens all doing the same thing. That must have been a riot to watch that scene through the window in the mall.
They finally acquired all the necessary pieces to clothe them all and just when they thought they were home free...Al remembered that he had ordered shoes (it was the 70s, he only wore flip flops or bare feet). He was sent to another of this esteemed tux shops stores in the South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa because they were the only ones who had the right shoes in a size 12.
In the meantime, I had come to the conclusion that I was getting married the next day even if Al showed up in cut-off jeans. I knew then that the wedding day was not as important as the shared life that came after it!
So back to Al at South Coast Plaza. He got there just as they were closing, but they had his shoes, hallelujah! He paid for them, and left the store through the mall while the clerk exited the store through the back after locking the door. It was only then that Al realized the mall had closed and he was locked in. Now this is one very large mall and he spent the better part of 2 hours searching for a security guard to let him out. It was after 1 a.m. when he finally left the mall.
Oh but we aren't home free yet...there was the little matter of suit pieces and parts that were not the right sizes and shirts that hadn't been laundered since the last occupant. One shirt even had a sleeve almost torn off (must have been one wild wedding). So my mother in law was up at the crack of dawn the next day to sort out the tuxes, mixing and matching to get everyone covered. Some of the guys were sewn into their pants so they would stay up and Al's shirt neck had to be gathered a few times as it was probably made for a gorilla. It was the only shirt with long enough sleeves for my tall drink of water.

So there you have it, this motley crew of wonderful men sacrificed their time, their effort and not a little of their dignity to participate in our sweet little ceremony. They looked truly rumpled, but at least the photographs are so bad it is very hard to tell.

Thanks for sticking with this epic tale!

Thought for the Day: It's not the wedding, but the life of love and sharing memories that is important. I hope that the trend will change from extravagant weddings and a high divorce rate to more thoughtful ceremonies that prepare couples for a life of imperfect days, disappointments and scattered happy moments. Because that is what makes up a life that is so much better when shared by two. A favorite quote of mine is an old Amish one: Choose thy Love, Love thy Choice; if you take time with the first part it makes the second part easier.
blessings to you,
nancy