Yesterday your Mom and I celebrated our wedding anniversay. A special thank you to all who remembered us on our special day!
I have many memories of our wedding day. It was a Saturday. At age 20, I had no idea of the enormity of uttering those two little words "I do". I did. She did. We did. We are!
It was 1960. My dad had died 2 years before. I was going to UW-Oshkosh studying to become a math teacher. I came home most weekends. Our family was living above the City Club. My siblings ranged in age from 17 down to 13. My mother was the sole breadwinner for the family. My life was about to change!
The thing I remember about the morning of the wedding was getting dressed for the grand event. I was not comfortable in dress suits complete with tie (thank goodness it wasn't a tuxedo). I got to the point where I needed to "tie" my tie. When you wear leather jackets and casual shirts, you don't get much practice. So I asked my Mom if she knew how tie the knot I needed. Nope! My siblings obviously didn't know how to do a tie. So I did as I always did, I went down stairs into the bar room of the City Club. There was always somebody with necessary skills.
Sure enough! At the bar next to the coffee machine was Chuck Andes, my Grandma Myrna's second husband. He knew how to tie bow ties, regular ties and any other kind of decorative cloth you might drape around your neck. I was informed that I needed a "windsor knot". It was a little more complicated because it was a double loop but it looked better and you could slide it open so it could be lifted over you head. Then you could use it again. So I was set. I had a good looking knot on my tie, it hung properly and I was ready to get "tied up" for life.
Chuck Andes performed the "tie" procedure to a bar room of acclaim. Lots of wedding jokes. Lots of advice about still being able to change my mind. Lots of laughter.
I don't remember much else about the morning of the wedding. Maybe the symbolism of getting my tie tied and the tie of marriage have something to do with creating the vivid memory.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that wedding days are precious. We remember lots of different things. Being "tied" to your Mom for many, many, many years is the best thing I ever did.
Love,
Dad