13 years!!

Today is the 13th anniversary of the happiest day of my life. The day I wore my mother’s wedding dress which was handmade for her mother (my grandmother) by her mother (my great-grandmother) and her mother (my great-great grandmother). I was the 5th person and the 3rd generation to wear it. My Grandma wore it in 1948, followed by her younger sister Betty, then my mother wore it in 1969 and Betty's daughter Nancy wore it next. There are many happy years of marriage in this dress!

From left: Me, My 2nd cousin Nancy, my Mom, my Great Aunt Betty, my Grandma

Our entire wedding cost my parents about $500. We had a BBQ cook-off team make the food and they were paid in beer (no, I’m not joking) by Jayme’s family. I was told by many, many people how good the food was but all I ate all day was a bite of our cake (tasted like a giant Twinkie) and a handful of Starburst Jellybeans which were on each table since they were my latest addiction. I was hungry but too worried about getting something on my dress!

Just like everyone, our wedding day had its bumps and bruises. When my Mom’s friend went to pick up our cake, it hadn’t been made. Luckily we had paid for it when we ordered it a month beforehand and our friend had the receipt. They made us a cake right away and brought it to our reception and set it up for us. I had ordered peach flowers and the flowers were pink. Our pictures leave something to be desired in the way of backgrounds and such, but the photographer was a last minute oh-no-we-forgot-to-hire-a-photographer!! Also it was in the days before digital photography took off so he had one roll of film and that was it!

At the end of the day though, I was married to my best friend and looking forward to happiness and children and more love than I had ever imagined possible.

And for 13 years, that’s what we’ve had! Here’s to the next 13, and the 13 after that, and the 13 after that and the…………….