A Dialogue

AMIE: It’s been seventy years since June 3, 1956. What do you remember about that unforgettable day?

RON: Rain!

AMIE: Say more.

RON: I drove my 1950 green Studebaker to Ashtabula to pick up my best man Lloyd and bring him back to my house. I parked my car in the garage so no one would decorate it. One of my ushers, Steve, came to pick Lloyd and me up in his ’48, ’49, or ’50 chartreuse and black Ford convertible with the leakiest top I’ve ever seen. We went to get the other usher, Tot, and Steve drove us all to the church. Imagine seven hands trying to cover the holes in the roof to keep the rain from soaking our clothes. Steve kept one hand on the steering wheel.

My friend Paul from Ashtabula had agreed to photograph the wedding. I kept watching for him to come but he never did. Maybe he got rained in and couldn’t get there.

I saw a lot of people coming to the church. I remember when Lloyd and I came out of the front sanctuary doors I looked out over the bunch of people where you were supposed to be coming from. I asked Lloyd if he had the ring. I saw people turning around to see if you were coming down the aisle.

What do you remember?

AMIE: Rain!

It was inconceivable to me that it could rain on our wedding day.

Because Mom’s and my apartment was too small for the reception and we didn’t have the extra $35 to rent the church fellowship hall, we planned to have the wedding cake and punch in our back yard.

When we got up in the morning, it was pouring!

Now what?

One of my bridesmaids, Jeannie, had come from Pennsylvania and had stayed all night with us. She slept in Mom’s single bed and Mom slept on the couch in the living room. My sister Wanda was my matron of honor. She and her husband John and their baby Juanita had come up from Cortland the day before and stayed in the Geneva Motel on Rt. 20.

I’m not sure how Mom, Jeannie, and I got to the church. Maybe Jeannie drove us. My other bridesmaid Doris lived nearby on Austin Road. Uncle Hallie, who was giving me away, had to drive up from Williamsfield with Aunt Ruth and my cousins Walle and Linda.

I remember standing in the vestibule with Wanda, Jeannie, Doris, Uncle Hallie, and Mom. I was watching to be sure the ushers took everybody to the correct places: bride’s family and friends on the left, groom’s, on the right. I looked at the bridesmaids. Mom and I had made my dress, and I had made Wanda’s and Jeannie’s. Doris made her own. Wanda’s was yellow, Jeannie’s was blue, and Doris’s was pink. They carried Shasta daisy bouquets to match their dresses and looked beautiful together. I asked them if my veil was on straight. It was borrowed from my cousin Sally, who drove up from Canton with Aunt Willie and Uncle Neut. Something old was Grandma Willard’s ring with little emeralds and moonstones. New was the pearl necklace you gave me and my graduation watch. It was an Elgin with a tiny face so popular at the time. Someone gave me a blue garter. Maybe it was Jeannie, maybe Doris, I don’t remember. The penny in my shoe hurt like crazy. I tried to figure out the best way to hang onto my bouquet of white roses and lilies-of- the-valley. It had a handle, but it felt weird. Wanda had the ring I would give you. How would she manage that with her bouquet and then my bouquet? Why didn’t I put a pocket in her dress?

I looked through the doors into the sanctuary, and it was packed. We hadn’t sent out invitations. The newspaper had announced, “Open church.” At graduated the week before, you and I had invited everyone who came through the reception line. They were all there!

The ushers seated Mom and your parents in the proper places at the proper time. You, Lloyd, and Rev. Holloway came through the front sanctuary double doors and stood facing the crowd. The organ started to play. I looked at my watch. It said 2:00.

Wanda walked down the aisle, followed by Jeannie and Doris. They got to the front and turned. The organ switched to The Wedding March and Uncle Hallie offered me his arm. We walked. We got there. I looked at you and that was all that mattered. Except, I was nervous about handing off my bouquet to Wanda and getting the ring at the right time. I tried to listen to what Rev. Holloway was saying. You and I said, “I will.” We put the rings on each other’s fingers, kissed, and ran out the right aisle. When we got to the street, we turned as instructed and ran between raindrops up the other walk to the side entrance. Rev. Holloway had the Marriage Certificate ready for us to sign in the back hallway. The wedding party followed and Wanda and Lloyd witnessed our signatures. I looked at my watch. It was 2:12.

Twelve minutes!

Who drove us back to the apartment?

RON: I don’t know.

AMIE: There were three or four cars with the whole wedding party. We all drove north on Broadway to that street by the railroad tracks, horns honking. We turned right and right again, to get back onto Main Street and then Rt. 20 and South Myers Rd.

Somehow, when we got to the apartment, the wedding cake and punch bowl had appeared on a table in the living room. The gifts were in the bedroom on the two single beds. A steady stream of people came up the stairs, and jammed in.

Your dad took a few pictures at the church. Mom took a few at the reception.

RON: At some point the rain stopped.

AMIE: After the reception, I changed into my new yellow suit, and we went to your house. How did we get there?

RON: I don’t know. My car was parked in the garage. But we did. I opened the garage door and there was my car with a huge sign across the trunk, “JUST MARRIED.” A smaller sign said, “Tonight we can tango!” Shoes or tin cans or something were tied to the back bumper.

AMIE: I can’t remember when it was, but sometime that day Mom said to me, “Make sure you have your Marriage Certificate with you, or you may have trouble getting a motel.”

RON: We got in the car, waved goodbye and drove down the long driveway to Rt. 20. As soon as we could, we pulled off. Maybe down at Williams’s turnaround?

AMIE: Probably.

RON: We took the decorations off, threw them in the trunk, and continued on our way. Did we keep driving on Rt. 20?

AMIE: I guess so.

RON: Rt. 90 wasn’t there then.

AMIE: No. Whatever way we went, we found a motel soon after we crossed into Pennsylvania. They didn’t give us any trouble, did they?

RON: No.

AMIE: Do you remember where that was?

RON: No.

AMIE: Me, either.

What Do You Remember?

A Moment in Patagonia