The Wedding Day…

Our son’s wedding day began bright and early for us. We didn’t get into bed until after 1 a.m., but we were up around 7.  Jennifer arrived shortly after,  to pick up the church key.  Then she was off to get her hair and makeup done at the church.

Strangely enough, I was calm the entire day, from beginning to end. In hindsight, I think I was too exhausted to be anything else!  Never once did I feel anxious–well, maybe a tad, when my dress fell apart, but I’ll get to that in a moment!

Brad stopped by our house about 10:30 that morning. He wasn’t dressed, and still hadn’t printed out the boarding passes for the cruise. We were supposed to be dressed and at the church by 11!  That’s my Brad,  always waiting until the eleventh hour…

Fortunately, the photographer was busy with the bride, so we had plenty of time to waste–because we forgot to take the wedding rings to the church with us!  Lucky for us, the church is only about four miles from our house, so Brad dashed back home to pick up the rings!  The rest of us sat around, and ate the snacks that I’d prepared in the kitchen…and we waited.

Brad mentioned to me that one of the groomsmen was missing a button on his tux jacket. It was the top button, which would be noticable. We discovered that the bottom button should be left unfastened anyway, so we decided to move the bottom button to the top!  I knew about this problem ahead of time, so I took a needle and thread to the church with me…

Lots of “primping” was going on at the church, as well as lots of picture-taking. Brad and Jenn chose to not see each other before the ceremony, which resulted in some covert operations concerning pictures! I enjoyed rambling around with my camera, taking candid shots of whatever was going on…like these four buddies who looked too cool in their new shades!

I moved the button on Jason’s tux, then put my needle and thread away. However, I had to get it back out again when the front clasp fell off my jacket–just before we were going to have family pictures taken!!! I called a quick “time out”, and went to sew my clasp back on! Thank goodness for that needle and thread–even though the thread was black, and my dress wasn’t!

About the time pictures were finished, we began to notice that it was getting warm inside of the sanctuary. The air conditioning was mal-functioning! I never did find out if it just “froze up” or actually stopped working, but the sanctuary was not very cool by the time of the ceremony–but we survived! One toilet stopped up in the ladies room, too, but fortunately there were two more!

Ed’s mom didn’t feel comfortable walking down the aisle as part of the ceremony, so she was seated early.  We anticipated this, since she’d fallen a few days before.

I managed to get the groom’s unity candle lit on the first try, thank goodness, and didn’t fall coming down the step!

The wedding progressed pretty smoothly after that.  Our little two-and-a-half-year-old grandson did a great job as the ring bearer, and our four-and-one-half year old granddaughter performed well as the flower girl. Then the bride entered on the arm of her father.

From there, everything progressed normally, until the preacher decided to preach a sermon in the middle of the ceremony!  Seriously, he stopped in mid-ceremony and began to preach a sermon (about marriage) to Brad and Jennifer!  This following the eight hours of marriage counseling that the couple spent with him!

For a few minutes, we were wondering if he was actually going to continue with the ceremony! He even went so far as to remark at the end of his “sermon” for us to “please pray for Brad and Jennifer–cause they’re gonna’ need it!” I guess he thought about how that remark sounded, then quickly added, “we all do” to the end of the sentence.  It was an awkward moment.

We all made this mental note for our future reference :  never let a once “scorned and divorced” preacher perform your wedding ceremony!  He also shared with Brad and Jennifer that 17 out of the 19 couples that he has joined in marriage, are now divorced.  It’s no wonder he’s so jaded about marriage!

At the reception, Brad and Jennifer were discussing the turn of events during the ceremony, when I said to both of them, “You’ll just have to prove the preacher wrong.”  They both readily agreed.  I’m wishing our happy couple the best, and praying that the preacher’s track record with marriages improves–beginning with Brad and Jennifer.

Wednesday Hodgepodge…June 29

Joyce has graciously prepared another set of “Hodgepodge” questions for today, so without further delay, let’s get down to business, shall we?

1. What makes you stand to your feet and cheer?  Seeing the “underdog” win.  God bless the “little man”!

2. What’s your favorite patriotic song?  “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood

3. Do you believe that opposites attract? If you have a significant other are you opposites?  Yes, I do believe that opposites attract.  I’ve never really thought about it, but I guess my hubby and I are opposites in a lot of ways.

4. You’re going to get a behind the scenes look someplace…where would you like that someplace to be?  This will sound morbid to some, but I’ve always been a bit curious about the embalming process, so I’m going to say–a funeral home.

5. How far would you have to travel to ride a carousel (merry-go-round)?  About 55 miles, to the mall in Savannah.  I have to travel that far to do almost anything since I live in “the sticks”!

6. When was the last time you saw fireworks? What was the occasion? Do you enjoy fireworks?  I watched fireworks on a very crowded St. Simon’s Island, GA last year on July 4th.  Yes, I enjoy fireworks very much!

7. Of all the ‘beauty products’ you own, what item do you consider to be the most overpriced?  I don’t own a lot of beauty products, but I use Clinique makeup, and it’s not all that cheap.

Random:  I’ve been exhausted for the past two days.  I guess all of last week’s activities have finally caught up with me.    Gaining a new daughter-in-law, then finding out that my other son’s wife is expecting again is a lot of  activity for one week!  It’s good activity though!!!

The honeymooners will be home sometime Thursday.  I can’t wait to see them again!  We’ve been taking care of their pets in their absence.  We’ve been letting Newbie (Jenn’s dog) come and visit with us for a few hours each day.  I don’t know who will be happier to see the newlyweds return–us or their pets!

T’was The Night Before The Wedding…

So many wedding activities have gone on during the past few days, I’ve decided to break them up into stories.  Today’s story will center around the night before the wedding.

First of all, let me say that I highly recommend having the rehearsal dinner before the wedding rehearsal.  It worked out great for us.  People began arriving for dinner while I was getting the buffet set up.  By the time we got all of the food set out, everyone had arrived.

These days, people do all sorts of things for wedding rehearsal dinners, but I’m still traditional, and a bit old-fashioned.  Weddings don’t happy everyday in our family, so I wanted the occasion to be memorable–and “wedding-like”.  I chose to decorate the tables with white tablecloths, spring flowers, and tiny votive candles.  I bought throw away dinnerware that actually looked like china.  I hated to throw those plates away!!!  See those silver forks, spoons, and knives–they’re actually plastic!

After their original projector blew a bulb, the hospital (my husband’s place of employment) promised to have a projector overnighted on Thursday evening, so we could have it by Friday evening. It arrived by 10:30 Friday morning!  We showed two short video montages of Brad and Jennifer, following the completion of dinner.  Everyone seemed to enjoy both videos, especially the funny one I made at Jib Jab.  It “spoofed” Brad and Jennifer as a couple of hippies in love–to the tune of “I Got You, Babe”.

the bridesmaids...

Following dinner, we moved into the sanctuary for the wedding rehearsal.  At first it was total pandemonium!  I was told  that I had to light a candle during the ceremony.  I nearly died because I wasn’t expecting to have to do anything!  Whenever I practiced lighting the candle, I couldn’t get the stupid lighter to work.  Eventually, we swapped lighters for a less complicated one!

the groomsmen...

Finally, after two practices, everyone seemed to have an idea of what to do.  The pastor was beginning to fuss a bit, saying “it” wasn’t about the wedding being perfect, “it” was about getting married.  That was the first of several “interesting” comments he would make throughout the wedding process.  Following the rehearsal, most people left and went home.  Meanwhile, back in the church social hall, some of us still had some work to do.

The photographer requested that the wedding party be dressed and at church at 11 o’clock on the day of the wedding for pictures.  The wedding was scheduled at 2 o’clock.  That meant–no time to get lunch!

Following the wedding rehearsal, my daughter, my daughter-in-law, and I made piles of sandwiches, wrapped them, and put them in the fridge.  I bought chips, snacks, and made cookies so there would be food to snack on the following day– in between pictures.  I didn’t want any hungry wedding attendants!

Finally, we got the social hall cleaned up, and put back like we found it.  We loaded up all of the decorations, dirty linen, and left-overs, and headed home.  I don’t remember the exact time, but I think it was around 10 o’clock when we got home.  Shortly after that, my hubby and son-in-law went to Brad’s house to join “The Bachelor Party”.

The party ended around 1 in the morning.  I was still awake, planning for the “Big Day”.  As of 1 a.m. on the day of the wedding, Brad still hadn’t finished preparing the reception music…nor had he packed for the honeymoon!

Meanwhile, Jennifer went home to spend the night with her aunt, who is her mom’s younger sister.  Her aunt doesn’t live far away from the reception sight, so the two of them went by to see if the cabin was vacant.

When they arrived, they found a big party going on–complete with lights hanging in trees, and flamingos in the yard!!!  Jennifer panicked, and was afraid the cabin would be left in a mess.  She went to her aunt’s house, but the two of them returned to the cabin in the wee hours of the morning.

When Jennifer and her aunt arrived at the cabin for a second time, they found the cabin spotless, thank goodness!  They began to set up the “candy buffet” for the reception.  The candy buffet was one part of the reception that Jennifer wanted to set up herself–and she did.

The following day–the wedding day–Jennifer arrived at our house by 7:30 am to get the key to the church. She shared with us that she’d had a total of one hour and fifteen minutes of sleep the night before the wedding!

Meet Me On Monday…I Have Some Wonderful News!

Time to join Java for her Monday meme.  Here are this week’s questions:

1. What is your favorite food?  I can’t think of one food that is my favorite–but I’ll say “cake” because I have a hard time passing up a piece of cake–of any kind!
2. What color scheme is your bedroom?  khaki and burgundy
3. Do you carry a donor card?  No.  I have this crazy fear of being “killed off” for my body parts. 
4. In your opinion, is the glass half empty or half full?  Funny that you should ask, because I wrote a post about this once.  If we’re  literally talking about a glass of liquid, I view the glass as  half empty–and I worry about running out of drink with my meal.  However, if we’re  referring to my view on life, I see the glass as half full.
5. Vanilla or Chocolate?  definitely chocolate!

Weekend wrap-up:

If you are  regular reader here, you know that our youngest son (and last single child) got married this past Saturday.  The past week has been a flurry of excitement and preparation, culminating in the wedding and reception held on June 25th.  The newlyweds safely arrived to their cruise ship on Sunday afternoon, and called yesterday to let us know.  We appreciated hearing from them!

Most of yesterday was spent, resting and reflecting on the events of the past two days.    Our other two children, and their families came over at lunch to eat left-overs from the rehearsal dinner with us.  We spent the afternoon watching some video of the wedding, and looking at the pictures that I had taken over the past two days.  I’ll be sharing some of those later this week.

Sunday evening, my husband and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating supper alone, when our oldest son and his family came back for a second visit.  They grabbed plates, and joined in finishing off the last of the lasagna and strawberry trifle. 

Our youngest grandchild, Caden, was rambling around in the kitchen while his mother fixed his plate.  I noticed that he had on a new-looking t-shirt that I didn’t recall seeing before.  I always enjoy reading the front of his little shirts, so I called him over so I could see what was written on his shirt.  Here is what I saw…

Wow!   I so wish I had a photo of my face when I finished reading Cade’s shirt!!!  I was caught totally by surprise!  The expectant couple has known about the pregnancy for eight weeks, but kept the news to themselves!!!  Christina didn’t want to distract from Brad and Jennifer’s wedding.  How considerate was that?! 

Christina is creative and very thoughtful.  She has announced both of her pregnancies to us in unique ways.  After reading Cade’s shirt, and letting me get over the thrill of the news for a bit, she presented me with the (above) photo of Cade, along with an ultrasound of the new baby. 

The funniest thing about all of this was that earlier in the day, when family had been gathered around, I was trying to get Cade to let me rock him.  Of course, he doesn’t have time for rocking, and I was lamenting because I don’t have anymore babies to rock!  Cade’s parents didn’t say a thing!  Around New Year’s Day, things will change, and once again, I’ll have another baby to rock!  Our family is growing!   Life is good.

Have a great Monday, y’all!  I know I will!

Presenting The Happy Couple…

It’s official now…Brad and Jennifer are now  Mr. and Mrs.!  The wedding was beautiful, the bride looked radiant, the groom looked happy, and the reception was fun.

The happy couple is now aboard a cruise ship headed for the Bahamas, while the rest of us are resting and reflecting on the events of the past three days. 

More details will follow–after I finish resting for a while!

Six Word Saturday…Wedding Bells Are Ringing

Their big day is finally here!

I’m joining Cate’s SWS meme…And announcing the marriage of our son, Brad, to his soulmate, Jennifer–today @ 2 o’clock!

Love and best wishes to the happy couple!

It’s Almost Time…

Thursday evening:

I didn’t intend to blog this week, but here I am…again.  As I write this, I’m winding down from a very busy day.  I love blogging, so it only makes sense to do what I love, while relaxing.  Besides, this blog will also serve as a record of wedding-related events. 

Eight o’clock this morning found hubby and me in Wal-mart!  Quite a feat considering Wal-mart is thirty-eight miles from our house!  You could say, we got an early star! It was so nice having Wal-mart all to ourselves!  The only problem was…my stomach began to “act up” while I was trying to shop!  After two trips to the bathroom, I asked Ed to grab a bottle of Pepto Bismol off the shelf.  I opened it, and downed a slug of  it–right in the dairy department!!!  Soon, it was business as usual. (Pepto Bismol is my miracle cure–it works for me!)  An hour and a half later, and two hundred dollars poorer, we exited Wal-mart.  The next stop was to the church annex to unload.

The plan was to meet at the church annex at 1:30 to set up tables, iron tablecloths, and decorate for the rehearsal dinner.  My daughter, Brandy, and my daughter-in-law, Christina, offered to help me, and I graciously accepted.  Madison getting sick sort of changed the plan.  Madison was still running fever, so Brandy didn’t get to come help until later, when her husband got home from work.

Fortunately, my husband is a man of many talents!  He got the extra tables folded and put away in a jiffy, t hen proceeded to arrange them in the way I told him to.  Then he got the music system set up. 

I began ironing tablecloths, while Christina began decorating.  Christina has an eye for decorating, and she’s a perfectionist.  She set up two picture displays of the couple in no time, then moved on to setting the tables.  I had all of the stuff packed in tubs, so she unpacked everything, then put it on the tables. 

a photo display of the couple while growing up and dating...

Preparing these photo displays was fun for me.  I enjoyed sifting through nearly a hundred photographs, finding “just the right ones”.  I especially enjoyed making the pink and blue collages of the couple as children/adolescents.  His says “What are little boys made of…snips and snails, and puppy dog’s tails, while her’s says “What are little girls made of…sugar and spice, and all things nice”!  🙂

engagement photos and more dating photos

Anyway, back to my story… Before long, I was getting pooped from ironing tablecloths, so my multi-talented hubby took over the ironing duties.  He puts me to shame in the ironing department!  Daughter, Brandy, arrived just in time to put the finishing touches on the tables.  At the last-minute, the girls decided we needed a couple more decorations over by the photo displays, so off to town they went, while I took a quick nap on the loveseat in the pastor’s office!  Ed left, to take his mother’s dress to her, and to borrow a projector from where he works.  Soon Christina and Brandy returned with the necessary items,  we finished decorating, and arrived home around 6 p.m.

annex is decorated...all we need is food and people

I’m so blessed…Ed returned from his errands bringing supper!  We ate supper, then I got busy cooking–until 10 p.m.!

I’ve just finished making a Strawberry Trifle, for the first time, I might add.  I’m not sure that was such a good idea!  It didn’t turn out quite like I’d hoped, but we’ll eat it anyway.  I didn’t agree with the order in which the recipe said to layer the ingredients, but I was afraid to change it.  Next time I’ll do it my way!  It will taste the same, but my way will look prettier… 

Next I made a Seven Layer Salad–for the first time!  I’m a bit adventurous, aren’t I?  I made my husband promise to at least try it tomorrow night, because I’ll probably never make another one–too much cutting and chopping–of ingredients that I don’t especially like to cut and chop!  It seemed like Thanksgiving, having to chop celery and onions!

We hit a snag today when my husband went to pick up the projector from the hospital.  He’d made arrangements to borrow it so we could show the video montage that I made for Brad and Jennifer on their first year anniversary of dating, at the rehearsal dinner.  Guess what?!  The projector bulb is burned out!  Ed was going to go and try to find one, but we were told that the cost is between two and four hundred dollars–for a BULB! 

Ed’s boss did a very kind thing.  She’s having a new projector overnighted to the hospital tomorrow–so we can borrow it.  She said it was nearly as cheap to buy the entire projector as the bulb, so they did.  I hope it arrives before 6 o’clock!  If not–no video presentation.  I’m not going to worry, if it’s meant to be, it will happen.

I’m going to go to bed now.  It’s late, I’m tired, and tomorrow is another busy day…The day before the “big day”!  I can’t believe it’s almost time for our Brad to get married.  It just doesn’t seem possible…

The Anniversary Gift…

I’m afraid you may be getting tired of hearing about our anniversary, but I just have to share a couple more stories.  Today’s story concerns the anniversary gift.

I’ve already shared how, in the past, Ed and I usually bought something special to commemorate our wedding anniversary.  Remember this post about the goldfish pond?  Well, this year wasn’t any different.  We found our commemorative gift.

While staying at the beach last weekend, Ed and I did a little shopping around.  We went shopping through the middle of the day, when the sun was too intense for us to be out on the beach.  During one of our shopping excursions I saw something that caught my eye, even though I wasn’t looking for anything special.  It was a fountain!

This particular fountain was a sculpture of a little girl and a little boy,  playing in the water.  When I saw it, I immediately thought of our two grandchildren, Madison and Caden.  The children on the statue looked so much like them, and were doing something that our two grands love to do–play in water!  I fell in love with that statue.  On the day we left Fernandina Beach, we went by and bought the fountain for our yard.  It was a tight squeeze to fit it in our Cruiser, but we managed.  It’s amazing what will fit in that car!

My husband got up early (7am) on the day after we returned home, and began the process of installing the fountain.  First he had to remove an old fountain, remove a rotten stump that was under the old fountain, remove all of the river rocks from the bed,  clean them, then install the new fountain.  It was nearly an all day process.  Did I mention it was 104 degrees outside that day?  He worked like a trojan in that heat.

Late that same afternoon, my husband came inside to get me for the “unveiling” of the statue.  He’d set up two lawn chairs in front of the fountain, and had the running fountain covered with an old tablecloth so I couldn’t see what it looked like.  I sat down, he faked a drumroll, then removed the tablecloth…I loved it!  He made the moment special.

Hubby and I sat there admiring our anniversary fountain for a bit, and eventually one of us said, “another perpetual anniversary gift!”  That means it’s one of those gifts that requires constant work to keep up!  Come to think of it, isn’t that sort of like a marriage?  It takes constant work, too.

I love our anniversary fountain.  It will be a wonderful reminder of our 39th anniversary–and our grandchildren, for many years to come.

Wedding update:  I haven’t mentioned it but granddaughter, Madison, who is going to be the flowergirl, has been sick all week.  Her mom took her to the doctor yesterday, and found out she has strep throat!  Sure hope that antibiotic works fast!!!

Wednesday Hodgepodge…June 22

Joyce has once again provided us with seven wonderful questions for our mid-week “hodgepodge”!  Time’s a-wasting, so let’s get right to those questions, shall we?

1. Summer’s here-whoohoo! What’s your favorite sight, sound, AND smell
associated with summer?  That’s so easy for me to answer, because all of my answers are all rolled into one favorite thing…the beach!  Favorite sight- miles of sand and water,  sound-  the ocean waves crashing, and smell- the salty air! 

the beach...I love everything about it

2. Fireflies or lightning bugs…what are they called in your neck of the
woods?  We call them lightning bugs.  For some reason, we don’t have a lot of them around here, so it’s very exciting when we see one!

3. What is something from the past week that reminded you of your
childhood? A few days ago, I introduced our granddaughter to the call of the “Bob White”, aka known as a quail.  It brought back memories of when my own grandmother did the same for me–so many years ago.  I posted about the experience HERE. 

4. Define ‘the good life’.  To me, the good life means having a husband to love, who loves me equally in return…having children/families living nearby, and seeing them on a regular basis…having enough money to pay the bills, with a little left over at the end of each month… a warm/cool house to live in(that’s nearly paid for)…and last, but certainly not least, having the peace of mind that comes from knowing that I’m a child of God.

5. Tell us what we’d see if you took a snapshot of your desk/work
space?  A mess!  It’s a combination of sewing and scrapbook stuff–with a couple of odd items thrown in!  A picture is worth a thousand words–see!

my hobby area/work table...

6. Peaches or watermelon…yes, you have to choose.  Okay, that’s a tough one, but since I’m from Georgia, I’m gonna’ have to say “peaches”!

7. Ever been skinny dippin’? Is that too much for the Wednesday Hodgepodge?
Rest assured we won’t need details…unless of course you feel you must but
remember, this is a family friendly blog so keep it G rated.  Yes, I have, at night! Only because we live in a very secluded area, with no neighbors–and had our own pool!

Random Thoughts:

#It’s beginning to look a lot like a wedding around here!

#Ed’s tux is in, I have granddaughter, Madison’s, flowergirl dress hanging on the entertainment center, and Ed’s mom’s dress hanging on the bedroom door…

#That flowergirl dress is getting tight on Madison…she needs to eat light and not grow anymore between now and Saturday…
#Several totes are sitting around filled with rehearsal “stuff”…tablecloths, dinnerware, napkins, mints, candles, and more.

#More totes are filled with ingredients to make the rehearsal dinner…spaghetti, lasagna, strawberry trifle, death by chocolate, and more.  Still have to pick up ingredients for salad and some Italian bread…

#I’m just waiting for Thursday to arrive so I can decorate the annex, hoping my plans for how to do it work out.

#The soon-to-be-married couple are beginning to make me nervous…they just flew by here on their way to the courthouse to get the license.

#It’s 4 o’clock, the courthouse closes at 5–and Jennifer didn’t have her birth certificate with her.

#There’s no music for the reception, so far, Brad’s responsibility.

#Wedding programs are nearly finished–but not quite.

#The engagement announcement will finally be in this week’s paper–2 days before the wedding!

Two procrastinators, getting married…heaven help us!

Sharing Our Special Date…

Years ago, when Ed and I decided to get married, we chose the date of June 18th for a special reason.  It happened to be the birthday of our mutual cousin, and the person who introduced us by arranging a blind date for us.  In case you are new to this blog, or have forgotten, Ed’s mother’s sister was married to my father’s brother.  This meant that Ed and I had a mutual aunt and uncle, and their children were cousins to both of us–but Ed and I are not related.  Are you following me?

Ed is five years older than I am.  He graduated from high school in 1967–when I was just finishing up the seventh grade!  I knew who he was, in fact, I even remember having a crush on him back in 1967, but he never knew me because I was so much younger.  Flash forward two years, to the summer of 1969, when I was about to turn 15, and Ed was about to turn 19.  Our mutual aunt and uncle, along with their children were visiting from Florida.  They were staying at Ed’s parent’s house.

Susan, their daughter, had just turned 16 that summer, and wanted to go on a date with Ed’s best friend.  She came up with the idea to introduce Ed to me, so the four of us could go on a double date.  The rest is history…When Ed and I decided to get married in June, it just seemed natural to honor our cousin by “getting hitched” on her birthday!  I think of Susan every year when our special day rolls around.  It would’ve been her birthday…but, you see, Susan passed away over years ago.

Anyway, this past Saturday, on June 18, Ed and I were staying at Fernandina Beach, Florida, to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary.  We’d spent the late-afternoon sitting on the beach, and were returning to our hotel room to get ready to go out to eat.  As we pulled up to the hotel, imagine our surprise when we saw a bride and groom entering the front doors of the hotel–still dressed in their wedding clothes!  The bride still carried her bouquet!  It was about 6pm.

I wanted to roll down the car window and shout to them that they sure chose a good date to get married, but they disappeared before I could get the window rolled down.  They appeared to be in a rush to get to their room!

Ed and I drove around to the side of the hotel, and parked the car.  We looked to the left of us, and spotted a pickup truck–with shoe polish on the windows, along with toilet paper on the antenna, trailer hitch, and side view mirror.  There beside the truck, in the parking lot, lay a single white rose…probably broken from the brides bouquet as she exited the truck.

I couldn’t help myself…I picked up the white rose, and kept it.  It made me nostalgic of our own wedding so many years ago.  I also took some photos of their truck, cause that made me nostalgic, too!  I laughed at the writing on the back glass of the truck!  It read, “Just married…to a man!”  Only in the “twisted days” of 2011, would someone have to specify “to a man”!

We never saw anymore of the young bride and groom, but the following morning, as we were getting ready to leave the hotel, we saw them pulling out of the parking lot ahead of us.  I don’t know them, but I think they picked a great day to “get hitched”!  Ed and I will be long-gone in another 39 years, but I can only hope that the couple’s next 39 years will be half as happy and filled with love as mine and Ed’s have been.

I’m riding the Tuesday Train today.  If you’d like to join me, just click on the train for details…