This post is a little late, as our anniversary has already passed (yesterday), but as we were gone for a wonderful anniversary vacation, you'll have to accept it now instead of earlier!
So, where I left you last....oh yes, we had "decided" to get married. The day finally came. I was a bundle of stressful nerves all day as I waited for the clock to tick. The time finally came for me to go to Jeff's mom's house, where I was to meet Jeff, leave my car, and take off on this incredible adventure! We were so afraid that someone would find out, but I have sinced learned that we really were so sneaky that no one even suspected. I waited at Jeff's mom's house on pins and needles until Jeff finally arrived--he was late! He was also very worried, because he knew that he was going to be late, but tried to call me several times. I had left my cell phone in the car and so kept missing his calls! He was afraid that I had backed out. Silly Jeffrey. A teary grandma poo kissed us goodbye and we took off in the silver bullet.
We drove all the way to Gatlinburg, Tn that night (about 7 hours), but when I look back on it, it seemed as if the hours just flew. We felt giddy with excitement. We got in to Pigeon Forge late at night and checked in to our hotel rooms. I don't believe that either of us slept much that night....we were both too excited. Early the next morning Jeff, ever the planner, got us up and out before 8 a.m. He wanted to find the license branch and get our marrige license with plenty of time, just in case we got stuck in traffic or some other catastrophe befell us. It took about 15 minutes. Really. That's it. In Tennessee there are no blood tests or waiting periods. As long as we both had identification and someone was able to witness our signing, we were licensed for marriage. Scary, huh! From there we went to the chapel, again, just to check it out and make sure that we knew where it was. Our "wedding" was scheduled for 2:00 p.m., but when we arrived we learned that we were the only wedding scheduled for the day, and that we could get married any time we wanted! So, we changed into our wedding attire and got married at 11:00 a.m. The "reverend" asked me if I wanted to walk down the aisle carrying flowers. Honestly, I was shocked. "Absolutely not", I said. "Been there, done that, no reason to do it again". He was a little surprised, but then I think that everything about us was a little surprising. I mean, we weren't kids, and yet here we were, running away like kids to get married. We stood before him in the chapel and held hands. Jeff asked him if he could pray. Again, the reverend was surprised, but of course it was our wedding, so Jeff prayed for us, for our marriage, and thanked God that we were together, finally, forever. The minister then asked for our consents in marriage, then we read vows that we had written for each other. We exchanged rings and the minister pronounced us man and wife. We both just looked at each other and laughed. It was hard to believe it was really true. What took a very short time was packed full of meaning for both of us. I think that when most young couples get married and they make promises to each other, they have no idea to what extent they will have to go to in order to keep those promises, or how much work it will be, or how incredibly binding they are. Jeff and I already knew what it was to make those promises, only to see them torn apart. I guarantee you that we both said our vows that day with an incredible insight to what they truly meant, and that NOTHING would ever cause us to break them.
Then we went to Texas Roadhouse and had lunch.
It was all very fun, and meaningful, and incredibly exciting and romantic. We spent the next few days in a log cabin in the woods and we loved it.
Enjoy our photos. We look at them many times and remember how much we enjoyed that weekend. It was the beginning of our family. At that time, Jack was not even a tiny thought, and yet our family was beginning.
Thank you, Jeffrey, for marrying me, as flawed as I am, and loving me above all others. You are, and always will be, my best friend.
4 comments:
Hi Kitten! I was looking at our pictures and I realized that we wore the same exact coats on our anniversary getaway this last weekend.
Are we hip or what?
Awesome... I'm very happy for you both!!! The Lord can take something difficult and create something beautiful out of it... can't He? Thank you for sharing!
what an awesome story, Betty! Dana and I stayed in Pigeon Forge on our honeymoon. We actually planned our wedding for 3 months, but most people didn't know until 2 weeks before we were supposed to get married. Then Dana's dad had a stroke the week we were supposed to get married... so we re-planned it and got married in the same hospital Dana was born in!! I loved your story and your willingness to share it! Congratulations on year 2! We are working on year 4...It gets better all the time!
I loved reading the rest of your story. It brought tears to my eyes. I am so happy for you. What you said is so true about marriage.
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