Happy 35th Anniversary Laurie!

Today I raise a cup of coffee to toast my beautiful, amazing, wonderful wife, Laurie, in honor of our 35^th wedding anniversary.  Thirty five years ago on a hot, steamy Omaha afternoon, our wedding began at 4 PM.  Luckily we were in the air conditioned comfort of the Church of the Cross.  It’s odd that I really don’t remember much about the ceremony but I’ve seen the pictures and know that it happened and that it was a glorious affair.  Laurie (apparently) walked down the aisle on her dad’s arm and looked radiant in her amazing wedding gown and beautify hat (which she could wear at a future Kentucky Derby).  I was in ‘tails’ and looked possessed since my eyes were very bloodshot, not from a night of drinking but from eye surgery a few weeks before the wedding.  After spending 23 ½ years with ‘crossed’ eyes, I decided to have them fixed, which is a whole story in itself, i.e., I loved the anesthetic so much that I stayed out for hours, leaving Laurie to wonder if she’d participate in a wedding or, instead, attend a funeral.  Luckily, for me at least, I did wake up and the wedding went on as planned.

Following the ceremony, we formed a ‘receiving line’ and, as the guests left the sanctuary, we shook hands with each person and they wished us well, yada, yada, yada.  Following this, we walked down the hall to the fellowship hall where we enjoyed cake and punch, a wedding tradition that lasted for hundreds of years, but may have now ended (I don’t remember the last wedding I attended that had punch). The pictures show us cutting the cake but I don’t remember any toasts, so perhaps that is a very recent tradition. 

Following the church reception, we motored to 10221 Elm Street, Laurie’s childhood home, where we had a delightful Kentucky (second reference to Kentucky) Fried Chicken picnic with all of the wedding guests (I think).  Champagne flowed and a good time was had by all.  As dusk fell, Laurie and I made our grand departure, in our 1974 green Oldsmobile Cutless, freshly washed and free from any decoration, thanks to the Beebe’s, who let me hide my car in their garage during the wedding and reception!  Laurie had changed from her wedding gown to her ‘honeymoon’ outfit and we smiled and waved as we left for Iowa, one of the best places on earth to spend your wedding night.  Our destination that evening was Ankeny, Iowa, on the outskirts of Des Moines.  The next day we continued our journey, heading to our Michigan honeymoon spot.  We enjoyed Benton Harbor, Michigan.  As soon as I find the photos, I’ll blog about what we did there.

It’s been an amazing, astonishing, remarkable, miraculous 35 years.  Laurie and I have shared so many marvelous times – the birth of three incredible children (and participating in the astonishing events in their lives), wonderful vacations (including flying through the air in a metal tube), shopping for everything from diapers to trees, discovering the awe (and frustration) of the internet, raising cats and dogs, painting and papering house after house, planting and replanting dozens of plants, and then moving them and moving them again, and on and on.  While there may have been a few low points, those quickly fade to black and the good times stay in focus.  Each year somehow manages to surpass the prior year in joy and happiness; at least it has for me.  Thanks Laurie, and let’s keep this convoy trucking on . . .  Love ya lots, Larry