Welcome to a special edition of “Reminiscing.” Why special, you may ask? Well, Tuesday October 4th, was my wedding anniversary. After 19 years being married to Wendy, she deserves a column that talks about how great she is. And truly she’s really great. She’s put up with me for not only the last 19 years of marriage but an additional six years of dating. Yes, you mathletes have figured that out correctly. Wendy and I have been together for 25 years. It’s kind of our silver anniversary tour.
October 4, 1997. That was the Big Day. We were married in Lyndonville at the Methodist Church by Wendy’s family church guy. The Methodist was important to me because my parents and grandparents had been married there. Also, as I learned, one of my direct ancestors was a founding member of that church.
We also did the ceremony a little bit differently than typical weddings (at least at that time). We decided to turn around so that all our fans could see our faces rather than our behinds. Now, I realize that we both have incredible posteriors, but wouldn’t you rather see the joy on our faces?
I don’t remember a whole lot from the ceremony itself, but I know that Debbie Rey sang “Sunrise, Sunset” from “Fiddler on the Roof.” I only know this because I’ve seen the video. It took place before I came into the sanctuary. I’m pretty sure it was during that time I was being scolded by the minister for roughhousing with the guys in the wedding party. I was most definitely not nervous about getting married.
We had a pretty big wedding party. Jim Macaulay was my best man, while Scott Krulisky, Terry and Matt Herman, and my brother Bob were groomsmen. My brother-in-law, Brian, was one of the ushers. Bob assisted in the ush-ing.
During the candle lighting ceremony, we had a Grateful Dead tune played on the piano by Jim Schmidt of Lyndonville. We had given him a scratchy tape with which to learn the song, and he did an admiral job. It was one of the few moments we were faced away from our family and friends. While the song was being played, I had to sneak a look back to my friend, Poof. I knew he’s recognize the song. Of course, he was grinning when I turned around.
Our reception took place at the Barker Fire Hall. We were riding in the back of Wendy’s parent’s car with Wendy’s sister driving. Man, we flew to Barker. Terry, who was following in a GTO (ironically, the same one I now own) said he could barely keep up. She was driving that fast.
Our first dance as husband and wife was to “Shining Star” by the Jerry Garcia Band. The song is really long, so we invited the entire wedding party to dance with us. Then we morphed that song into “One More Saturday Night” by the Grateful Dead. It was appropriate considering that happened to be the day of the week of the party as well as performed by our favorite band. We also had “Happy Birthday’ by the Beatles played for my dad. His birthday is the 5th.
During the reception, there was a pretty heavy thunderstorm. All day, it had been beautiful and warm. We were concerned about how the weather was going to be. October can be pretty iffy around here. We totally lucked out, but after the storm, it was much cooler. By then, though, we were all indoors.
For our honeymoon, we went to Toronto to see “Phantom of the Opera.” We had ordered tickets well in advance, but they never came it. When we went to the Will Call at the theater, they not only gave us our tickets, they upgraded our seats to Box B. We were so close to the stage that when the flares ignited from the edge of the stage, we had to turn our heads from the rush of heat.
We only spent a long weekend on our honeymoon. We were just starting out, had new jobs, and didn’t really have the money for the fancy honeymoons that so many people take these days. In all honesty, why spend so much money to go someplace for the honeymoon? Sure, you can say you went there, but do you really get to take in any of the sights?
When we got home Monday, we had a surprise waiting for us at our apartment. Some people decided that it would be hilarious to completely trash our apartment. Let’s just say I was not amused. Even two decades later, I’m still not amused. After an exhausting weekend with the rehearsal, the wedding, reception, driving, the show, and coming home, we both had to be up Tuesday morning for work. I expected to come home, settle down and sleep.
The whole place was a mess. The couch was turned around. Wendy’s teddy bears were doing naughty things to each other. There were panties in the freezer. Our decorated arch from the reception was draped over the bathtub. It was chaos and mayhem everywhere. There was even a ransom note stating that we had a year to figure out who the culprits were. I figured out one immediately and demanded that she come help us clean up. She did.
Yes, while Linda cleaned up our apartment, I sat on the couch watching television and her gets things straightened. It took us the rest of the year to finally find out who did it. I can tell you right here, right now, that I still have not exacted my revenge on all those involved. But I will. Keep looking over your shoulders.
October 4, 1997. It was a wonderful day. The guests were great. The laughs and hugs were great. The weather was beautiful. Wendy was more beautiful. She still is. Happy anniversary to my gorgeous wife. Here’s to many, many more.
Craig Bacon loves being married. Especially since it’s Wendy.