Nov. 15, 2006 - We didn't elope, fer crying out loud.
Every few years my mother will up and buy me something costly. When I protest or venture to ask why, she says, "Oh, just consider it the money I would have spent on your wedding.". Then she throws me a pitiful, long-suffering gaze.
Although I still, 13 years later, occasionally have to defend our decision and battle the guilt about our nuptials, I don't regret a thing. My mom tries to say we eloped, but that's not accurate. Elopement is defined by secrecy. We told everyone we were getting married, we just didn't invite them. It sounds harsher than we intended.
First of all, we hadn't planned to get married in 1993. We were both soldiers stationed in Italy, due to return to the states in April of 1994. We'd thought we'd have a wedding that summer once we got settled. Meanwhile in the summer of 1993, I won a competition for Soldier of the Year for U.S. Army Europe. One of the many prizes was two round-trip tickets to the US, complete with about 350 black-out dates. We decided to go to Florida, just a fun trip for us and managed to schedule it for mid-November. In the weeks prior, we got notification that we were being assigned to different posts. So we started saying, "What if we got married when we were back in the States?".
At first we thought we'd keep it a secret and only tell the official Army channels so we could get a married couple assignment. But I can't keep secrets and I don't lie, so that probably would have failed immediately. My mom was not happy. She wanted a big wedding. This was not how things were supposed to go. When would she ever meet the in-laws? Both my mom and dad were self employed and could have come to a hasty wedding, but my in-laws both worked in a factory and couldn't get time off at the last minute. We decided that since not all the family could attend, we'd invite no one.
We went to the courthouse in Clearwater, FL and were wed by a nice little old lady.
She took this photo. I'm actually barefoot since DH is only about 1/2 an inch taller than me. Afterwards, we went to Taco Bell, since we hadn't tasted it in over a year. Romantic! We had a day at Disney for our honeymoon. Having visited Mickey more times than I could count, I found DH's love of the "It's a Small World" ride really funny.
Of course, when we finally moved back to the US, we were both so busy that a wedding was impossible. Then a year later, I was pregnant and it seemed kind of silly to have a wedding by then. It was only by producing rather adorable grandchildren that my mother finally quit agonizing over our non-wedding wedding. She deeply grieved over not being able to wedding dress shop with me.
It was a great wedding. Yes, I think it would have been nice to pick out a massive lace concoction of a dress. It would have been nice to have been married in a church by clergy. It would have been nice to have friends and family there. But seriously, we saved so much money! Once, I asked my mom, "So how much more is left on the wedding tab? Can I get like...a new sofa out of it, or are we talking pair of shoes?"
The 13 years we've been married haven't all been good. At some points I was sure we'd never last another year. I thank God that He's healed so many of the wounds we inflicted on our marriage. Nobody really tells you how hard marriage can be.
But here's 13 reasons why I'm so glad to be married to my DH and why I pray we have many, many more years together.
1. He can fix nearly anything.
2. He works very hard so that I can be home with our kids.
3. He supports me in whatever I take on.
4. He has so much energy.
5. He has an eye for the big picture.
6. He makes me proud.
7. He's handsome.
8. He is humble and willing to take advice.
9. He is a great dad and always wants to be greater.
10. He can cook, iron, and clean when motivated.
11. He dreams big.
12. He trusts me.
13. He makes me laugh like no one and nothing else.
Comments
Nov. 17, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Momwtrmn
I totally get it! Mine was somewhat similar... and I use that term loosely b/c of how different the circumstances were. LOL! I was 4 1/2-mos. prego when we got married. I also waited until 4mos. to tell my parents I was prego. Ergo, we devised the whole wedding in 13 days, to no great approval of my parents as I'm the only daughter and caused my parents to lose out on the only chance they'd ever have of throwing a huge wedding. It's had its long-lasting repercussions, to be sure. But we really did save a heap of money.
And I am so TOTALLY using your idea to create a list of things to be thankful for in your hubby. GREAT LIST! And it seems like our hubbies are similar. LOL.
Many blessings,
Christi
Nov. 19, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Congratulations!
Nov. 19, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Congratulations!
~Faith
Jul. 21, 2007 - Your kids must be gorgeous
Posted by Anonymous
He's swarthy, you're beautiful! Wadda the kids look like?
