Wedding Day Memories...
It's been 35 years, but it seems like only 33 or 34. Really -- I've probably forgotten more than I remember of the last couple years! But I do remember September 28, 1973...
Lapeer, Michigan. It was fall, and it felt like fall. It was a dreary, rainy day. The weather, that is. Inside of me there was sunshine and flowers, soda pop, cotton candy, pink hearts and pastel butterflies...And I didn't even do drugs!
Actually, I don't remember many details from that morning. I know I woke up alone in my apartment, which was probably a big hopeless mess. There were only a few occasions in the two or three years I/we lived there that I could have described the place as "tidy" (a word for which I, personally, have never had much use). I'd have to guess that my wedding day wasn't one of those times.
I know I had a salad I made myself for lunch. Lettuce and a can of salmon with Italian dressing. It was an unusual lunch for me. In fact, that may be the only time in my life I've ever eaten canned salmon. I can't say it was a delicious lunch, but I do remember it, 35 years later, so there must have been something special about it.
By then I guess I had decided the sun was not coming out just because I was getting married. Since the wedding wasn't scheduled to begin until 8:00 that evening, I also figured out that it probably wasn't going to get any warmer. My dress was heavy satin, with long sleeves -- the kind we called Bishop's sleeves or Juliet sleeves. Or my favorite -- Leg of Mutton sleeves. (Those sleeves were awesome -- I wish some designer would bring them back -- not!)
Well now, I've digressed a bit. My point was that, even though the dress was heavy with long sleeves, it had a low neckline and I had short hair; I figured I was going to need some sort of a "wrap." Not having a car meant I'd have to walk downtown -- in the drizzling mist. (I'm not positive, but apparently my hair appointment was later; although a nice walk in the rain would explain why my hair looks that way in all my photos!) I know I fleetingly thought about the possibility that I might run into Greg. We really didn't want to break that rule that says brides and grooms are not supposed to see each other on their wedding day, but I thought the odds were pretty slim that he'd be hanging out downtown on such a cruddy day...
I'd almost reached my destination -- Gage's. Just to the corner, across the the street and to the middle of the next block... I was passing Zemmer's drugstore, focusing on not stepping in any really big puddles, when the door opened, and there stood Greg Fischer! We both stopped, looked at each other for half a second and then pretended it never happened. (I'm so glad he played along -- otherwise we would certainly have been cursed, and our marriage would not have lasted 35 years!)
I did find a lovely crocheted shawl -- 100% acrylic and ivory, like my dress. The price was $15. I bought it, but by the time we were gathering in the school hall across from the church, the rain had stopped, and the sun showed itself just in time to set. I did not wear the shawl. I kept it, though. I've worn it two or three times since then. Maybe that's been my good luck charm -- the reason our marriage has been so blessed. I never thought of it that way before, but I've known that I must have had one. I guess I've always thought it was that salmon salad...
So Greg Fischer and I are still together. We've lived in North Carolina for 26 years now, which is more than half of our married life. But we still visit Lapeer, Michigan every summer. We drive past that first apartment on Main Street, past Immaculate Conception Church (where we were married), past the American Legion Hall where we had our reception -- which, by the way, was so much fun, we were the last ones to leave -- and past our first house on Adams Street -- the one near the hospital, where we were living when Meagan was born. Great memories.
Thirty-five years of memories, and most of them good. I do remember some bad times, of course, but mostly I remember fun. We've always managed to have fun together. I guess if anyone asked me what was the main reason to choose someone to fall in love with, I'd tell them (Ok, someone actually did ask me once, and I did tell them): If someone can make you laugh, even when you're still just a little bit mad at him, then that person is the one you should choose. Hey -- maybe laughter has been our good luck charm...
Whatever. Happy Anniversary, Greg. Thank you. For all of it. I love you forever!
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