| Brian:
I arrived early to join the men for breakfast at the Holiday Inn.
The buffet remained (from the previous day) excellent and I partook
to a degree which caused my father to comment that his son was
‘eating as if this were his last meal’ (before execution).
I replied that perhaps he was on target because, in a manner of
speaking, ‘there was indeed a certain part of me scheduled
to die this day.'
Jack and I returned
to Jean’s after breakfast and found him working in the yard:
clearing out the fall season’s brush while subjecting himself
to a gentle yet cold rain. Some time was spent ‘checking
out’ Jean’s computer in his home office and working
on it for about twenty minutes. It just seems that even on my
matrimonial day, I found myself irresistibly drawn to electronic
devices! Alas, the tinkering was brought to closure by the reality
that it was indeed time for ‘the groom’ to return to
John and Margie’s in order that I might prepare for the wedding
and complete two final details. First, I had to pack my suitcase
and second, my rental car had to be parked at Wildwood Lodge,
where Jean was standing by to ferry me to the church, not in the
Cadillac lest anyone become suspicious. The humidity remained
at nearly 100 percent as the hour approached and the only thing
clear about the weather was that it would continue to precipitate
during the remainder of the day.
Joyce:
Once again, my day began early, 4:00 a.m. to be precise.
The early morning hours were spent packing, cleaning up, and preparing
more flowers. I finally was able to shower and managed to report
to the church at about 10:30 a.m. Given the completely organized
and orderly manner of the previous day’s decorating efforts,
there remained one or two things to be done! I believed, finally,
that I had done enough and began dressing (for the wedding) at
11:30 a.m. It’s a funny thing about a bride, the wedding
wasn’t until 3:00 p.m. and yet I felt compelled to begin
dressing so far in advance. Such things will always make sense
to women and will forever be mysterious to men!
Brian:
Pictures were taken before the wedding in such
a fashion as to prevent me (referred to by many simply as ‘the
groom’) from seeing the bride in her gown until the wedding.
The feeling began to come over me that I was an out-of-place ornament
to be moved about on a whim. The movements were, however, successful.
Joy confessed later that perhaps her henchmen carried out their
duty with more vigor than she had intended! The wedding went off
with only one hitch and even that was planned. To the observer,
it must have seemed that we enjoying the wedding too much for
we were quite chatty and jocular in our behavior during the ceremony.
Some of this may have been due to the smoking unity candle, which
we thought might set off the smoke detector! I took special note
of my cousin Lindsey when she smiled so broadly at the beginning
of the ceremony; I almost found a tear in my eye, but was able
to check any such silliness. The bride did look wonderful entering
the sanctuary and I was pleased! As we recessed, we noticed some
friends (the Baumgartner family) who had driven from Minnesota;
their attendance on that most precipitative day meant much to
us.
The Wedding
Party |
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Left
to right: Stephanie Stoll
(cousin to Brian), Rebecca Green (friend of Joy), Brenda
Cavanaugh (sister of Brian), Kristi Acree (friend of Joy),
Pat Polo (friend of Joy), Joyce Linn, Brian Linn, Eldon
Linn (father of Brian), Robert Stewart (friend of Brian),
Jerald Cobb (brother of Joy), Edward Wollenberg (friend
of Brian), Jack Spitler (friend of Brian). |
Now it was on to
the reception where much food would be available, especially to
us, the hungry couple. Eldon Linn would ‘do his thing’
as emcee/best man. My colleagues from LLE had sent Dad a fax to
be read aloud at the reception, which added some additional humor
to the occasion. After some additional words of humor and wisdom,
the circulating began. Between us, we attempted to spend a few
minutes with every guest, whether or not we succeeded remains
a mystery; however, one fact is certain, the guests were able
to enjoy far more in the way of food than we! In fact, we each
managed only the piece of wedding cake fed by the other. No wonder
the wedding night began as it did.
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