Thursday, March 22, 2007

Tag! You're it for a Marriage Meme

Marriage Meme


My friend tagged me with a wonderful meme! Here are my answers...


1. Where/How did you meet? We met at my husband’s home one evening in late September when I was visiting his sister. He was taking a break from playing ping-pong with his younger brother when we were introduced to each other. Then we met again in February at a Valentine’s dance, where cupid flew and hit us hard.

2. How long have you known each other? Gosh, a LONG time! Over 32 years!

3. How long after you met did you start dating? Over 4 months

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? We had a rough and rocky beginning, so about eight months in total, and a long hard road when I finally agreed to wear the engagement ring, after I first refused when he “told” me we would marry and I waited until he actually proposed properly. We both cried when we finally agreed we were destined for one another, and then became mostly inseparable from then on.

5. How long was your engagement? 5 months, though it was initially supposed to be four months longer.

6. How long have you been married? Just celebrated our “Pearl” anniversary – 30 Years!

7. What is your anniversary? March 5th

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? Not sure, about sixty?

9. What kind of cake did you serve? Marble. I’ll never forget, as it was the trend to please both chocolate and vanilla lovers at the time.

10. Where was your wedding? St. Patrick’s Church.

11. What did you serve for your meal? Gee, both mothers arranged it all and the day was quite a blur for us both, but it was yummy with both a Western and Indonesian flare.

12. How many people were in your wedding party? We had our Maid of honor, two Bridesmaids, Best Man, and two Groomsmen.

13. Are you still friends with them all? Just had a lovely reunion with several but haven’t seen our Best man and of our Groomsmen in years.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? He bit his lip real hard trying not to, but we both spilled tears. We had much joy in our hearts that only we knew about secretly. What we were experiencing remains a secret to this day we two share alone.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? Finally, at last, being married and on our way to our new life, the right way!

16. Any funny moments? Yes! My sister and bridesmaids sewed everything in my going away bag to my nightgown, while my brothers and cousin decorated our car to the nines. Confetti flew out of our heater for six months!

17. Any big disasters? No, none, BUT, what were we thinking to have my hubby in a WHITE tuxedo? Shake our heads with that one...

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We were not able to have one for eighteen years, though we did have a quick overnight at a nice hotel, all too short though as we were expected back the next morning for a gift opening brunch at my parent’s home.

19. How long were you gone? 16 hours at best.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Not much, though in the church, we would prefer to have been down in front of the altar, rather than to the side upon it facing everyone. Emotions were all too high that day, seeing others made it harder. As well, it would have been more intimate to have our backs to everyone and make eyes at each other…smile. If Videographers were popular back then, perhaps some video highlights to show the grandchildren would be nice too.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? I sleep on the right side of the bed now, switching sometimes during a pregnancy to be more comfortable on my left side when necessary.

22. What size is your bed? We’ve upgraded to a king size bed, sometimes room enough for little ones between us in the middle of the night still too.

23. Greatest strength as a couple? Our greatest strength as a couple is being able to recognize behind the eyes what is happening there, and also facing life’s adversities hand in hand, holding one another up at all times.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple? There have been many, but our favorite line is “This too shall pass”. At this time, it is health issues, hoping and praying for a miracle, still hand in hand walking this journey together called life!

25. Who literally pays the bills? Husband earns – Wife delegated duty to pay bill officially.

26. What is your song? “Still The One” - by Shania Twain. Our daughter taped a copy of it for our 25th anniversary and surprised us during dinner by turning it on for us to listen to.

27. What did you dance your first dance to? We didn’t have any dancing at our wedding as we were married at eleven o’clock in the morning, though we did have a luncheon, and then left towards dinnertime to be alone together.

28. Describe your wedding dress: Classic and simple. There were sixteen satin covered buttons combined down the back and along the wrist at the bottom of the long sleeves, It was not embellished in any way, no lace, beads or sequins. It had a slightly scooped neckline, fell completely full length to the floor and the fabric was a lovely white crepe satin material.

Since our wedding was in March, one couldn’t predict the weather, therefore my mother had the idea to wear a shawl/cape over top the dress to match the girl’s dresses somewhat with fall colored flowers on it. It was fuzzy soft, and when I stood on the staircase to have a picture taken, I matched the wallpaper behind me, as it was velvety furry patterns as well…laugh.

I still have the dress and cape today, and our girls love to try it all on to have a picture taken in them.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? My flowers were white narcissus with an orange center, and the greenery was cascading mini wondering jew. The bridesmaids had similar arrangements, though yellow narcissuses were used with the greenery. The men had a boutonnière of a simple narcissus and greenery.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? No

How old were you when you got married? 17 and 20, old in our minds though still young at heart today. Contrary to most kids these days, we knew what we wanted at a young age, and were fearless to begin this radical change together, walking side by side, hand in hand, along the road to a lifelong marital committment. smile