June is the traditional month of weddings –

is anyone celebrating a wedding/anniversary this June? Have you already attended a wedding this month? If your anniversary is in June, how many years have you been married?

• Name or describe briefly your spouse (or partner) – age, appearance, work, interests, etc.
• Note when & where you got married. In a few words describe the ceremony, who attended, where you went on your honeymoon, and any other factual highlights from that day, the ceremony itself, and the preparations for it.

Anthony & I had a simple wedding (on the spur of the moment – really & no, I wasn’t expecting). We were married in the living room of the house Anthony was born in Springboro, but it had a Franklin address. The house itself had undergone some serious changes, but it was the same house. I bought a twenty dollar white dress from Kmart and we exchanged two dollar rings from Hills Department Store (both stores are gone now). That’s why I decided that for our 35th Wedding Anniversary Vow Renewal to do it up right. I’ve had two different sets of rings since our original set. I can tell you about those later. The set I wear now he gave me for Christmas one year. So sweet. I love them, so when he asked me if I wanted a new set for our renewal, I said, “no.” When he first proposed to me, he was so adorable. I that couldn’t have said no, even if I had wanted to & I didn’t. It was a decision that I have never regretted.Every marriage undergoes its troubles and trails, but you never give up on each other.

When & how did you and your mate decide to get married? Was it love at first sight? Or did a friendship develop into love? Was there a formal proposal? Did you (the future groom) ask your future father-in-law for permission to marry? Was there an engagement ring or symbol of intent? Did you live together before getting married? How long was your engagement?

Anthony & I were engaged two weeks after we “officially” introduced (we had had a couple brief encounter but not really introduced) at his brother’s house & he later proposed in their driveway.  His brother’s wife had introduced us. I was her babysitter. She also happens to be my sister’s sister-in-law. [This is how most relationships form. That’s why its critical to find each family member of three generations on both sides of a relationship when doing genealogy, because they will introduce new people & tend to intermarry. I find it will save you so much time by entering it as soon as you find it. That way, you don’t have to backup and figure out the link later. ] Our first date was to the Dayton Mall (in Miamisburg) . Anthony later, took me to the same mall to pick out an engagement ring. I chose a tiny little white gold diamond ring from Rogers Jewelers. I showed it off like it was 10 carats. I still have it in my jewelry box today. I had a diamond jacket soldered to it and it caused the back to break off. I thought of having it reset, but I still love it just the way it is, so it will stay that way. Sentimental reasons. Our wedding we discuss at another date. It was an event unto itself.

Do you recall your wedding and all the preparations leading up to it? Who did what? Was it fairly straight forward or complicated?

Tell us about it!

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Married in January’s roar and rime,
Widowed you’ll be before your prime
Married in February’s sleepy weather,
Life you’ll tread in time together
Married when March winds shrill and roar,
Your home will lie on a distant shore
Married ‘neath April’s changeful skies,
A chequered path before you lies
Married when bees o’er May blossoms flit,
Strangers around your board will sit
Married in month of roses June,
Life will be one long honeymoon
Married in July with flowers ablaze,
Bitter-sweet memories in after days
Married in August’s heat and drowse,
Lover and friend in your chosen spouse
Married in September’s golden glow,
Smooth and serene your life will go
Married when leaves in October thin,
Toil and hardships for you begin
Married in veils of November mist,
Fortune your wedding ring has kissed
Married in days of December’s cheer,
Love’s star shines brighter from year to year.

 

Love songs…

… sentimental, cheesy, slow, heartfelt, all of the above. I’m listening to music as I write this, & thought about songs with special meaning. As we approach Valentine’s Day, what’s your favorite love song, the one that always makes you think of your special someone. Maybe it’s a 1st-dance-at-our-wedding song, or 1st-date, or whatever.

Mine & Anthony’s song, I’m sure that everyone knows it by now, its Conway Twitty’s version of “I’d Love To Lay You Down.” He sings it to me often. We play it over our two ways. Although it wasn’t our first song, I used to sing Donna Fargo’s “Somebody Special,” but somehow, we stopped listening to it. I still play it every now & then. I love to hear it. So I’m playing it while I write this. Sh… Don’t tell Anthony that I shared that. He’s a very private person and don’t like me to share the really personal stuff. But I have a tendency to share just about everything. I want my Grandchildren & their Grandchildren to know how much love they came from.

What song is love music to your ears?

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Valentines Day Punch

INGREDIENTS
4 (12-oz.) bottles strawberry soda
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
2 quarts ginger ale, chilled
1 cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS
Freeze the strawberry soda in ice cube trays. Boil sugar and water for 5 minutes. Add fruit juice and chill. To serve, put cubes in punch bowl and pour juices over. Add ginger ale before serving.

Variation: To make a yellow punch for Easter, freeze mountain dew.

In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, and future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of all those things. And then we shall be very cautious. ~ Blaise Pascal (19 Jun 1623 – 19 Aug 1662).

As scribed on a paper and always carried with him: “Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the scholars.. Psalm 119:16:I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. Amen.” ~ Blaise Pascal

 

How did they meet?

You’ve documented marriages, now, go back a bit. Do you know the story of how your parents met? Your grandparents?

Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better. ~ Robert Frost

 

Sweet Embrace

It's Good To Be King!

I wanted to share a few good memories, this is one of my favorites. Valentine’s Day 2004 Costume Party at our house.

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“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.”
-Albert Einstein

 

Love is…

I got this in my inbox…

‘It was a busy morning, about 8:30 a.m., when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 a.m. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well healed so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for awhile and that she was a victim of Alzheimer’s disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he were a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised and asked him, “And you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?”

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, “She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.”

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, “That is the kind of love I want in my life.”

True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.’

‘Oh, by the way, peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank.

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

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Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.’