44 years!

Today is our anniversary! Forty-four years ago, at 7 pm, hubby and I got married in the living room of his folk’s house. I was 18, he was 20.  We were sooooo  young, but at the same time, we both seem to know that this was it and this is what we wanted.  I don’t think any of our kids would have been ready to get married at this tender age. Is it just me, or do kids now-a-days seem so much more immature than we were then?

Well, I digress. Anyway, we didn’t have any money and neither did my mother, so we just got away with the cheapest wedding we could. I bought my own dress and shoes from my tip money. (I worked at A & W back then.) I had no desire to have a big fancy church wedding. I just wanted to get married and get on with our lives. His mom and dad, (my future in-laws) suggested that we get married in their living room. They had a small living room with a big upright piano against one wall. She bought an expandible white paper bell and hung it from the ceiling in front of that big piano. That’s where we would stand in front of the preacher who would marry us.

Hubby was in the Army and had been sending me some of his money so I could deposit it into my bank account where I put my measly checks from A & W. We’d been able to save several hundred dollars just in the few short months after we decided to get married. My future FIL took me shopping shortly before Hubby got his leave to come home for our wedding and “we” bought our first car. It was a 1957 Ford Fairlane. I think it was about $500. My FIL paid half of it as a wedding gift to us. That helped us out a lot!

The day of our wedding was a beautiful fall day - sunny, cool and crisp. Not a cloud in the sky!  My very favorite kind of day. Earlier in the day, Hubby came by to pick me up and we went to the bank to take out our money and close our account. He was going to take me back to West Virginia with him for the last nine months of his commentment the Army. My mother had a fit that he would “see” me on the day we were going to get married! She just knew it would be bad luck for us! But I just laughed and thought it was silly.

I didn’t think the day would ever be over. I rolled my hair so I would be “pretty” and tried to keep busy to make the day go faster. I had all my clothes and all my other worldly goods packed since several days before so I just had to pack the last few things. I was so excited! What an adventure I was getting ready to began!

Finally the time came for my mother, three sisters, my brother, and me to go to my future in-laws house. His mom and dad, two sisters and brother were there. The preacher, Mr. Transbarger, was already there and straight up 7:00 pm, we started the ceremony. My sister stood up with me and my brother stood up with Hubby. (They were good friends — that’s how I met my Hubby.) I was so nervous, I don’t remember very much about what was said. I remember saying “I will” and about 20 minutes later, the preacher announced us “man and wife”. We kissed, then I started crying. (I’m very emotional.) The preacher took lots of pics, but we found out later that he didn’t have any film in his camera. So I only have a few pics that my mom took. I would have included some here, but #1 daughter has my photo albums, so no pics, sorry.

We all traveled back to my mom’s house where she had the table set with plates, cups, napkins, and the little cake that she baked herself. She had piled several layers together to make it look like a real wedding cake. I was so proud of my mom’s little cake! They took a pic of hubby and I cutting the first piece. We all had a nice time visiting and eating cake.

Then it came time for us to leave. We got a room (number 8) at a local motel, “The Satellite Motel” and we started our lives together that night. We were both nervous but everything turned out just fine. The next morning, we just had time to run by both parents’ houses to say our good-byes and we were off to the East Coast for the beginning of a wonderful life together. I can’t say that it’s all been rosy, (nothing’s perfect) but for the most part, we’ve had a wonderful marriage. I have no regrets and wouldn’t do anything differently.