Your Wedding Day, What Will You Remember Thirty Years from Now?

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The days fly by so fast.  In the blink of an eye, you turn and you went from bride to wife.   So, when I say remember to focus on what is really important I mean it.  Thirty years ago today I married my best friend.  I was 21 and Sam was 23.  I had just finished my degree at Eastern Illinois University and had just started Medical School.  We were broke, and I mean broke but happy.  I cannot think of two more opposite people in the world.  Sam is quiet, calm, and sees the world as it is.  I on the other hand am fairly loud, hyper as can be and live somewhat in a dream world.  I love animals completely, Sam on the other hand likes them but now as my husband has four cats (he hates cats), one dog and four horses.  We have at least three horses home at a time and for a guy that is not that fond of animals he still helps me clean stalls, holds Remington, Jack or Faye, gives the horses their medicine, and dumps manure for me.  Isn’t it amazing what you will  do for the people you love?  I am fortunate that I am loved so deeply.  I can honestly say that I admired the man I married.  His qualities are ones I wish I had but that is what makes things work.  I can say that I am complete because of him.

Our wedding story is rather funny so please let me share:

I was finishing school, in fact I had finals the week of our wedding.  I planned for a year, paid everyone and thought the last week would be calm so I could focus on studying for tests.

NOT!

Tragedy #1

It started  a few weeks before when the bridesmaid dresses did not come.  “Don’t worry,” they said, “they’ll be here that designer is always late.”  That Monday before the wedding, still no dresses, yes panic set in since I had six bridesmaids.   I call New York in tears, their answer’ “We’ll see what we can do but we can’t guarantee anything.”  Tues., No dresses.  Wed., no dresses.  Thurs., no dresses.  Ok so what are ya gonna do, my Mom and sister went to J.C. Penney outlet store and found six dresses and bought them all!  Friday night a Fed Ex man rang the bell and a miracle the girls’ dresses.  So they were not able to be altered but we did get them pressed for everyone to wear.

Tragedy #2

Tuesday afternoon with a final the next morning in Entomology I received a phone call from Sam.  He said, “The tux place called and can’t get all of our tuxes the same and they won’t  give us our money back.”  Great so another tear filled phone call to the manager of the Tuxedo rental in Oakbrook!  Problem solved, father in law wears a suit, ushers and my brother in law (he gave me away my father passed away when I was 16) where a different tux.  They had just enough of the same for the bridal party!  Yes there is more.

Tragedy #3

When I tell my girls, “Don’t go cheap on your  bouquet,” I mean that too.  As you can see in the slideshow they are not very nice.  I thought it would be good to do silks and paid a friend of a friend.  They fell apart the week of the wedding my mother and sister re-did them all.  Yes, there is more.

Tragedy #4

I came home Friday afternoon and the first thing I did was run to the bridal shop to get my dress.  I had been up a few weeks earlier for the final fitting and thought I would leave everything there for safe keeping.  Well, I  get home and hang my dress out.  I love it.  I then proceed to hang the cathedral veil out as well and when I fluffed it there were holes all over it.  It look like a cat (I did not have cats back then) had gotten into the bag and clawed the veil.  Again, another tear filled phone call.  I run back to the shop before they close.  They reassure me that I can pick it up on Sat and it will be beautiful.  It was.  They did not have another veil so they sewed appliques over the holes.  Yes, there is more.

Tragedy #5

Sunday is here and my twin sister made an appointment for us to get our hair done.  The photographer is coming at noon, our appointment is at ten we should be just fine.  We would have been fine but for some reason my Mom dropped us off then went shopping…why…I think she needed pantyhose.  There we are standing outside the shop and my mother is no where to be found.  It is 11:00, 11:15, 11:25… I am going to kill her!  I see a K-mart and  think she has to be in there.  I go to the customer service desk and ask if they could page my mother.  The woman at the counter tells me she can’t page an adult, again another tear filled panic stricken moment.  I replied, “Look I am getting married in three hours!  The photographer will be at my house in a half an hour!  Page my mother.”  She did and my mom strolls up to the counter, “Wow I lost track of time.”  Yes, there is more.

Tragedy #6

It was a hot August afternoon and yes there was a chance of thunderstorms and yes it did storm.  The storms did not last long they were just big!  They came in about 4:30 pm and there were flash floods.  Guests arrive at our reception, the cocktail hour is lovely.  My Uncle Ed was the Band leader of a ten piece orchestra with a female vocalist.  They were our entertainment.  It was like a big band.  We are seated for dinner salad is served then ten minutes, twenty minutes, one hour, one hour thirty minutes….  due to the flash floods the sewers backed up and kitchen flooded..yep no food! They reopened the bar (without charge after yes again a tear filled bride is trying to figure out what is going on) so the guest drank, and drank while the band played.  One hour later we began to eat.  At that point no one really cared about the food they were happy that the bar was open.  Yes, there is more.

Tragedy #7

The day is over and we travel to our honeymoon in Estes Park, Colorado.  You must understand, there was no internet to check out pictures and places we had to rely on the Chamber of Commerce.  We found a great place for a fantastic price.  We could hardly believe the description:  Fresh flowers in the room daily, view of Pikes Peak,  surrounded by Spruce trees along the river….as we drove into the place we see this little brown cabin off the side of the highway… surrounded by three Blue spruce trees, and a little creek running on the side.  Sam and I looked at each other and said, “Yep that’s it.  It has to be nice inside.”  It was “nice” inside the cathedral ceilings, well they were angled ceilings (thank goodness I am only 5 foot and I just fit!) , the view of Pikes Peak, I swear was from the bathroom window and you had to stand on the toilet to see it, fresh flowers were Black Eyed Susans from the rode,  I kid you not.

You know if I believed in omens (which I do not) I would have sworn the “universe” was trying to tell us something but we did not listen.  I loved Sam and it did not matter, on August 9, 1981 no matter what I was going to be Mrs. Sam A. Moore and that is all that I wanted… and it is really all that I want today.  Life has been full of ups and downs.  It is amazing that you can love someone so much and hate someone so much all in one day.  I look at Sam and see that person I married thirty years ago.  He still looks the same to me.  We have a wonderful daughter that is a blend of us both.  I am grateful for my life.  So what brought tears to my eyes thirty years ago, now makes us laugh.

So you are getting married, keep it in perspective and ENJOY the moment.  What will you remember thirty years from now?