Posts Tagged ‘love’

Married in September (4)

11 September 2012 Written by Lois Hjelmstad 0 Comments

(continued)

Somehow Mother, an excellent seamstress, managed to fix that huge hole in the maid of honor dress. She tore apart the skirt, unruffled some ruffles, stretched the material a bit, and stitched it all back up. No one could notice.

Today is the 64th anniversary of the day before the wedding. Les and I went to the church to meet with our pastor and receive a bit of marriage counseling. I think he said something about praying every day and making sure that Les managed the money. Actually, how much counseling can be done the day before the wedding? We couldn't even concentrate. 

And, as far as we were concerned, we didn't need to be advised. We had it all figured out. Riiight.

As Les dropped me off at my home, he whispered, "I'll see you at the weddding." Then he kissed me, and disappeared into the mist.

He'll see me tomorrow, I thought. I'm marrying him tomorrow.

If it had been now, rather than then, I think I might have added, OMG!

I packed that evening, well aware that it was my last night in my little room. Mother and Dad came down to say evening prayers with me and we all cried.

To be continued….

(And don't forget there is going to be a surprise.)

 

Married in September (3)

10 September 2012 Written by Lois Hjelmstad 0 Comments

(continued)

Because my maid of honor had no more money than I did, I had borrowed a pale green bridesmaid's dress from another friend. (Les and I each had only one attendant, except for those two cute little candlelighters.)

And today is the 64th anniversary of the day that my mother, while pressing said dress, burned a hole the size of the iron right in front. The same day that a carful of unexpected company arrived from South Dakota. The same day I hemmed my wedding dress. All this two days before the wedding. Yikes.

And I commented in my diary:

The rehearsal went off well. It will probably be a beautiful wedding. I feel so detached and unconcerned. It is as if I were overseeing someone else's wedding – not mine.

I think I must have been in shock. 

More to come…

 

Married in September (2)

09 September 2012 Written by Lois Hjelmstad 2 Comments

(continued)

As it turned out, Les did find a place to stay for our wedding night – at an old hotel (The Auditorium). Whew! No more worry about that. Just deal with drab and dreary. Or not notice at all.

So this is the 64th anniversary of the third day before our wedding. The only thing I will say about it is what I wrote in my diary that night:

Boy, will I ever be glad to drive away with Les Sunday afternoon and never ever go through this again. And please, God, let all my children be sons?

[As it turned out, we have three sons and one lovely daughter whom I would not give up for anything.]

More tomorrow…

Married in September (1)

08 September 2012 Written by Lois Hjelmstad 1 Comment

The sun shines brightly. The air is soft and warm. My heart sings. September is my favorite month.   

Yesterday it dawned on me it was the 64th anniversary of the day that my mother and I went shopping for the reception stuff – plates, cups, napkins. (I assume they were paper. I don't recall.) Les met us downtown and we went to a jewelers to pick out my wedding ring. 

Really? Five days before the wedding? Were we eloping or what? Actually, no. We had invited 150 guests to a wedding and reception on September 12.

Let me go back in time. We had planned to get married on October 3, the first Sunday after my 18th birthday. So I had made some preliminary phone calls and we had talked a bit about whom we would invite and how our wedding might be.

But Les' mother and two youngest brothers, who had spent the summer with him, needed to hurry back to North Dakota in time for the start of high school. She had seven married children and had never been to any of the weddings.

So mid-August, my parents agreed we could move up the date so that Les' family could attend the wedding before they left. Barely enough time to get the invitations mailed. Barely enough time for Mother to make my wedding dress and two candlelighter dresses. Barely enough time to get blood tests and contemplate marriage.

And today is the 64th anniversary of  "Oh, no, Les can't find a place for us to stay on our wedding night!" Four days before the wedding. He had wanted to stay at The Oxford Hotel in Denver, but it was booked for a dairymen's convention. Dairymen?

Good grief. What will tomorrow bring?

(Adapted and augmented from This Path We Share. (c) 2010 Lois Tschetter Hjelmstad)
 

Father’s Day – Celebrate

15 June 2012 Written by Lois Hjelmstad 8 Comments

I have spent this week remembering my father. Now I turn my focus to the beloved father of my children. This poem both mourns Dad and celebrates Les:  

But I Have You

Endless schedules
reduced to a small mound
of fragile bones and cold flesh
all the sound and fury
flamed into an urn of ash

Impossible to believe
that Dad is gone

Orphaned beyond all comprehension– 
I have no father

But I have you, my love—

father of our children
keeper of our safety
guardian of our gates
sanctuary for my soul

We will go on

(Excerpted from This Path We Share: Reflecting on 60 Years of Marriage © 2010 Lois Tschetter Hjelmstad)

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