I got up extra early on Monday morning and quickly did the laundry before LV stopped by. We needed to go get our marriage license and then do a little shopping for thank you gifts for every one that would be helping at our wedding.
Arriving at the courthouse we found our way to a crummy little room filled with filing cabinets, where there was a lady sitting behind a desk strewn with papers. She didn't seem enthused or happy for us that we were getting married and simply barked out the questions she needed to ask and then shoved a piece of paper toward us to sign. She then told us our marriage license should arrive within a week. Eyeing her desk I felt rather doubtful that she would be capable of keeping track of everything and get it to us in time for the wedding.
Leaving the courthouse we went to a near by store to see what we could find. Our church rules made it rather difficult to find something that I liked. We finally settled on a pretty oil lamp for all the girls that would be helping but it was even harder finding something for the boys.
It took all morning until we had taken care of everything. Arriving at home I was surprised to see Vernie at the kitchen sink washing dishes. I asked her where Mom and Daddy were and she informed me that Mom had broken her foot and Daddy took her to the doctor.
A broken foot wasn't something we had planned into our wedding preparations and I wondered how I was supposed to get everything done in time since she couldn't help like she would have otherwise.
I fixed a little something for our lunch and we sat at the table to eat while Vernie continued washing dishes. She was singing in her joyful toneless manner when suddenly she walked over to LV. Holding the dish cloth in one hand she peered at him and asked earnestly. "You will take good care of my little Mary Ann, won't you?"
LV assured her he would be taking the best of care of me. Turning to me she said, "And you be sure to cook good food for him." I assured her I would do my best. Satisfied she went back to doing the dishes. I felt like laughing and crying. She was so sweet and it would seem different not being able to see her everyday.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Announcement
I got up early that Sunday morning and went downstairs, filled the teapot with water and set it on the stove to brew a fresh batch of peppermint tea for breakfast. I knew I didn't have to be up yet but I simply couldn't make myself stay in bed any longer being filled with nervous anticipation like I was made that almost impossible.
Mom must have heard me stirring about the kitchen because she got up soon and came out and sat on a chair next to the stove. We talked a little bit as I set the table and then checked the food in the pantry to make sure it was still okay. It was.
Today was the day I had been looking forward to for quite a while already. Today was the day when after the preaching was over in church the bishop would announce our upcoming wedding. It hardly seemed possible. After a year of planning and preparing for our wedding it was so close.
At the breakfast table Daddy told my youngest brothers that they would hear my name in church to day when the bishop made the announcement that we were getting married. Ivan promptly burst into tears when he realized I was moving away and Raymond taking a cue from his older brother joined in. I could feel a lump rising in my throat as I assured them I would be back to visit often and that I hoped they would come see me often as well. As much as I had been looking forward to getting married the reality that I would be moving away from the home I had known and loved for so long was very bitter sweet.
Arriving at church early Uncle Eli was still building a fire in the old wood stoves. He drew a chair up and talked for a while. Aunt Emma and Vernie were there already as well. I wished Grandpa could be there. He was at home still recuperating from his stroke. He really wanted to be at my wedding and seemed to be recovering with sheer will power.
After church services were over the bishop said his usual piece about gathering for another service in two weeks and then added that a brother and sister of the church have agreed to enter the bonds of holy matrimony. Namely, LV _____ and Mary Ann _______ The wedding will be on Thursday in two weeks. I glanced over at Daddy where Ivan and Raymond were sitting beside him with huge smiles on their faces. I was glad to see their sorrow had been short lived.
The songleader announced a song and started singing. For some reason I couldn't concentrate on the words today. As the last note faded and the boys and girls filed out Vernie came scurrying out to meet me. Grabbing my hand she kept saying "My little Mary Ann is getting married!" I told her her that she would have a special place to sit at the wedding, beaming happily she went back to sit with Emma until she was ready to go home.
Looking out the window I could see LV getting his horse ready. I got my shawl and bonnet and stood outside on the porch to wait for him to drive up. It seemed wonderful that we were allowed to ride with each other in broad daylight! No longer could anyone complain that we spent too much time together. He would be at our house everyday helping with the final preparations for the wedding.
We spent the afternoon writing wedding invitations until it was time to go to the singing. The fact that my years of attending singings regularly were almost over didn't seem real either. I loved singing and knew I would miss them.
Mom must have heard me stirring about the kitchen because she got up soon and came out and sat on a chair next to the stove. We talked a little bit as I set the table and then checked the food in the pantry to make sure it was still okay. It was.
Today was the day I had been looking forward to for quite a while already. Today was the day when after the preaching was over in church the bishop would announce our upcoming wedding. It hardly seemed possible. After a year of planning and preparing for our wedding it was so close.
At the breakfast table Daddy told my youngest brothers that they would hear my name in church to day when the bishop made the announcement that we were getting married. Ivan promptly burst into tears when he realized I was moving away and Raymond taking a cue from his older brother joined in. I could feel a lump rising in my throat as I assured them I would be back to visit often and that I hoped they would come see me often as well. As much as I had been looking forward to getting married the reality that I would be moving away from the home I had known and loved for so long was very bitter sweet.
Arriving at church early Uncle Eli was still building a fire in the old wood stoves. He drew a chair up and talked for a while. Aunt Emma and Vernie were there already as well. I wished Grandpa could be there. He was at home still recuperating from his stroke. He really wanted to be at my wedding and seemed to be recovering with sheer will power.
After church services were over the bishop said his usual piece about gathering for another service in two weeks and then added that a brother and sister of the church have agreed to enter the bonds of holy matrimony. Namely, LV _____ and Mary Ann _______ The wedding will be on Thursday in two weeks. I glanced over at Daddy where Ivan and Raymond were sitting beside him with huge smiles on their faces. I was glad to see their sorrow had been short lived.
The songleader announced a song and started singing. For some reason I couldn't concentrate on the words today. As the last note faded and the boys and girls filed out Vernie came scurrying out to meet me. Grabbing my hand she kept saying "My little Mary Ann is getting married!" I told her her that she would have a special place to sit at the wedding, beaming happily she went back to sit with Emma until she was ready to go home.
Looking out the window I could see LV getting his horse ready. I got my shawl and bonnet and stood outside on the porch to wait for him to drive up. It seemed wonderful that we were allowed to ride with each other in broad daylight! No longer could anyone complain that we spent too much time together. He would be at our house everyday helping with the final preparations for the wedding.
We spent the afternoon writing wedding invitations until it was time to go to the singing. The fact that my years of attending singings regularly were almost over didn't seem real either. I loved singing and knew I would miss them.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Awkward!
I was sitting in the phone shanty for our usual half hour in case any of our customers wanted to call. It was cold outside and I had lit our old kerosene barn lantern and taken it along to set beside my feet to try to keep them from freezing. Engrossed in a book that I had taken along to read while I wait I was surprised to hear the door open and Daddy step inside.
He had a weird expression on his face as he asked me to go to the furnace room, that someone was there that needed to talk to me. And that he would sit by the phone for the rest of the half hour.
I walked up the road wondering who needed to talk to me. I entered the furnace room and saw LV's Dad standing there waiting. He looked rather nervous and made some small talk about the weather. Behind us our huge furnace hissed and popped noisily with all of it's air pumps and water circulators. It made it hard to have a conversation and we practically had to yell to understand each other.
He shuffled nervously and then launched into the real reason he was there. "As was customary before you could have your engagement announced in church one of the ministers had to come talk to you," he stammered out. hemming and hawing he finally managed to ask if LV and I had maintained a pure courtship and a few more details.
I could feel my face turn beet red and felt like running to the house as fast as I could go. I told him that yes we did nothing that we have reason to be ashamed of.
He said that he hadn't expected anything else, and just so I know the bishop will ask the same thing on the morning of our wedding.
To me that felt like a warning. I shuddered, and went into the kitchen where Mom looked at me sympathetically and I realized that she had experienced the same thing before they had married and now I knew why Daddy's expression had been so weird.
He had a weird expression on his face as he asked me to go to the furnace room, that someone was there that needed to talk to me. And that he would sit by the phone for the rest of the half hour.
I walked up the road wondering who needed to talk to me. I entered the furnace room and saw LV's Dad standing there waiting. He looked rather nervous and made some small talk about the weather. Behind us our huge furnace hissed and popped noisily with all of it's air pumps and water circulators. It made it hard to have a conversation and we practically had to yell to understand each other.
He shuffled nervously and then launched into the real reason he was there. "As was customary before you could have your engagement announced in church one of the ministers had to come talk to you," he stammered out. hemming and hawing he finally managed to ask if LV and I had maintained a pure courtship and a few more details.
I could feel my face turn beet red and felt like running to the house as fast as I could go. I told him that yes we did nothing that we have reason to be ashamed of.
He said that he hadn't expected anything else, and just so I know the bishop will ask the same thing on the morning of our wedding.
To me that felt like a warning. I shuddered, and went into the kitchen where Mom looked at me sympathetically and I realized that she had experienced the same thing before they had married and now I knew why Daddy's expression had been so weird.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Preparations
After years of dreaming and planning Mom was finally going to get her new kitchen cupboards. The ones we had were old and the counter top an ugly bright orange. With a wedding on the way the entire house needed to be to be looking it's very best and the orange dilapidated counter top didn't fit the bill and had to go.
Mom and Daddy sat down one evening and drew up a blueprint of the new cupboards that they wanted. Daddy told Mom to add all the things she had seen and liked over the years. Since we would build it ourselves she could have it how ever she liked.
John got right to work the following day. It would take some time to build it since it was huge and covered two walls in the kitchen.
While he was busy making kitchen cabinets Mom and I were busy giving every room in the house a fresh coat of paint. It was starting to seem like a ridiculous amount of work to get ready for one day. I felt pretty confident no one would notice if the pantry didn't get a fresh coat of paint.
In the middle of all this painting Aunt Vernie came running over to the house calling for Mom and Daddy. She was clearly disturbed by something and could hardly get her words out but we grasped that something was wrong with Grandpa.
Mom and Daddy went over to their house right away and discovered that Grandpa had a stroke and needed to get to the hospital right away. I felt my heart drop, and hoped with everything within me that Grandpa would be okay. He had been really looking forward to the wedding and I really wanted him to be there. Somehow I didn't want to think of getting married without Grandpa there to give his blessing even though I knew he approved of LV and wanted only the best for us.
Mom and Daddy sat down one evening and drew up a blueprint of the new cupboards that they wanted. Daddy told Mom to add all the things she had seen and liked over the years. Since we would build it ourselves she could have it how ever she liked.
John got right to work the following day. It would take some time to build it since it was huge and covered two walls in the kitchen.
While he was busy making kitchen cabinets Mom and I were busy giving every room in the house a fresh coat of paint. It was starting to seem like a ridiculous amount of work to get ready for one day. I felt pretty confident no one would notice if the pantry didn't get a fresh coat of paint.
In the middle of all this painting Aunt Vernie came running over to the house calling for Mom and Daddy. She was clearly disturbed by something and could hardly get her words out but we grasped that something was wrong with Grandpa.
Mom and Daddy went over to their house right away and discovered that Grandpa had a stroke and needed to get to the hospital right away. I felt my heart drop, and hoped with everything within me that Grandpa would be okay. He had been really looking forward to the wedding and I really wanted him to be there. Somehow I didn't want to think of getting married without Grandpa there to give his blessing even though I knew he approved of LV and wanted only the best for us.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Ever Closer
The oil lamp flickered ever so slightly as it stood on the end table next to the couch where LV and I were sitting.
"My parents have decided to move." he was telling me. "They would like to move the Monday after spring communion which will make that the date we had picked out for our wedding won't work so we'll have to figure something else out."
Getting the calendar we checked when a good time would be since my parents had said I need to be twenty before I got married. LV would be getting the home place from his parents when they moved and knew that spring was going to be very busy and it would be hard to schedule a wedding between field work. That we might have to wait until fall and he would have to try his hand at being a bachelor for a while. Or if my parents agreed we could move up the wedding date to before I turned twenty.
The rest of the evening passed swiftly as we talked about what it would mean to us either way. The thought of waiting until fall wasn't something we liked but if we had to we would.
The next morning I told Mom and Daddy about the new turn of events and was so happy when they agreed that we could get married sooner than we had planned. I wished I could tell LV right away. Two weeks seemed like an awfully long time to wait to talk about it. Daddy must have sensed how I felt and went out to the barn and hitched Fern to our little top buggy and told me to go tell LV.
Driving up the driveway at LV's home I couldn't help but admire the picturesque farm and to think that before long I would live there! It all seemed to good to be true.
LV saw me coming and came out to see what I wanted. Sitting in the buggy we talked about our wedding plans until we saw his mother peer at us through the window. "I guess it's not Sunday evening." he said as he got out of the buggy. We still have a lot to do and the wedding is so much closer.
Thinking of everything that still needed to be done I waved good-bye to LV and urged Fern into a trot and headed home.
"My parents have decided to move." he was telling me. "They would like to move the Monday after spring communion which will make that the date we had picked out for our wedding won't work so we'll have to figure something else out."
Getting the calendar we checked when a good time would be since my parents had said I need to be twenty before I got married. LV would be getting the home place from his parents when they moved and knew that spring was going to be very busy and it would be hard to schedule a wedding between field work. That we might have to wait until fall and he would have to try his hand at being a bachelor for a while. Or if my parents agreed we could move up the wedding date to before I turned twenty.
The rest of the evening passed swiftly as we talked about what it would mean to us either way. The thought of waiting until fall wasn't something we liked but if we had to we would.
The next morning I told Mom and Daddy about the new turn of events and was so happy when they agreed that we could get married sooner than we had planned. I wished I could tell LV right away. Two weeks seemed like an awfully long time to wait to talk about it. Daddy must have sensed how I felt and went out to the barn and hitched Fern to our little top buggy and told me to go tell LV.
Driving up the driveway at LV's home I couldn't help but admire the picturesque farm and to think that before long I would live there! It all seemed to good to be true.
LV saw me coming and came out to see what I wanted. Sitting in the buggy we talked about our wedding plans until we saw his mother peer at us through the window. "I guess it's not Sunday evening." he said as he got out of the buggy. We still have a lot to do and the wedding is so much closer.
Thinking of everything that still needed to be done I waved good-bye to LV and urged Fern into a trot and headed home.
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