NIECE BETSY TAKES A HUSBAND - Part 1

WITH HER FIRST HELLO...
　
The story is told that Thomas and Betsy were introduced to each other by a mutual acquaintance...or something like that. But that whole "how they met" thing is now water under the bridge, and I really don’t want to bog down my wedding series with too much prefatory material. Suffice it to say that when they finally started "dating" in February of 2009, they hit it off fairly quickly. The only downside was that Betsy was scheduled to leave in July of that year for a 7-month stint of working in an orphanage in Zambia.

So I’m told that Thomas was determined to keep their romance in the shallow end, and not to do anything silly like fall in love and wait around for her to get back. But things do not always go according to plan, do they? And the next thing he knew, he found himself in the deep end of this romance...way in over his head...and she was too of course. And then they were crying like babies when she left on that plane to Africa...and the rest, as they say, is history.

So let’s fast forward to a day in early May 2010, shall we? Otherwise, this wedding series will go on and on like...well, like another wedding series might have done. We were all busy minding our own business down there in Edmond one Saturday. The girls and I had gone down to register Emily for college, and we somehow got the news that there was to be a proposal at a park at such and such time and we were all invited to come celebrate and eat cake, if she said yes, that is. And she did, but I think I already wrote about that whole affair at the time it happened, so if you’re interested you can check that old post. Meanwhile let’s move on, shall we?

The next wedding related business that I got in on was the actual DRESS BUYING. Yes, Emily and I happened to be down in Edmond again, for some reason or other, when they announced that the bride-to-be was headed out to try on dresses and all her female relatives were invited to come along. So it became a party, with about 10 of us traipsing into this fairly small bridal shop, and filling up all their chairs, and clogging up most of their aisles. And everyone had an opinion on everything, of course, so that’s fun. And I tried to be discriminating like everyone else and make helpful comments like "oh, that waist is too high or low or something". But secretly I thought she looked beautiful in every single thing she tried on.

And ultimately the decision had to be Betsy’s anyway. And she finally settled on this lovely one-strapped concoction with 3D flowery things scattered about, and some great shirring through the bodice and waist, and a gorgeous train and floor length sheer veil which I would love to describe for you, but you know I can’t so I won’t even try. So they said they’d take it...and it was such a beautiful moment that even the ching-ching of the credit card machine couldn’t dampen our spirits.

Of course watching the mother-daughter-sisters interaction at such a momentous occasion spurred me on to thinking about the past...and my wedding dress. My mother made it, which sounds very cool but in reality, it was just cheaper that way. She was a master seamstress, but didn’t have much experience in the wedding dress-making business, other than the dress she’d made for Sally, which turned out well. So she found a pattern that I liked and gamely went forward, and I remember being happy with the result, but the truth is I had nothing to compare it with because I never tried on any commercially-made wedding dresses. Looking back, I don’t remember visiting even one single bridal shop prior to my wedding. The bottom line was that I was 29 years old, and I think we were all so relieved I was finally getting married, that no one worried too much about the wedding details, not even me.

Betsy’s dress buying also made me think about the future and helping my own daughters pick out a wedding dress some day. And I look forward to those days, knowing they will be memorable, and probably even enjoyable on many levels. But I can’t help feeling a tiny sense of dread too, knowing that it will foreshadow the closing of another chapter in our lives as mothers and daughters. So there will have to be some more of that crying business, if my sister’s clan is any example of what goes on during wedding planning.

So that was some major digressing from the real story...but you know I can’t help it. Next up, we get invited to Betsy’s personal shower...sort of. And on that note, I better close this first chapter.
For lunch today, I had T&WT, a slice of dutch apple pie (my favorite) made by my husband, and some peach yogurt.