What Were You Doing On September 29, 1989?

Yesterday, my husband, Todd and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. Sometimes, it seems like it really was just yesterday that we got married. I can still vividly remember that day....

Friday, September 29, 1989; it was a beautiful autumn day in Buffalo, NY. The weather was perfect; just the right temperature and the sun was shining. My family was up from Florida for the big day. My dad wouldn't have anyone stay at a hotel, so we had a full house. We were so packed, I actually slept on the floor in our family room the night before the nuptials. I'm not complaining. I was so happy to have my grandparents and aunt and uncle there, and so excited about the next day. Where I slept didn't matter one bit.

Anyway, on with the story. After a leisurely breakfast and visiting with my family, my aunt took me to Victoria's Secret to pick out something special to wear that evening (if you know what I mean). By the time we arrived back at home, it was time to get ready. All the girls and the photographer arrived and we took so many pictures, my face hurt before I left the house. When the limo arrived, my dad, my bride's maids, and I took a short ride down to the end of our street to Church of the Advent. (It's an Episcopal church, basically a toned down Catholic church.)

OK, the wedding. At the time, Todd's uncle was an ordained Lutheran minister, and the priest ("Father" Fred) who officiated allowed him to participate. Well, I laughed the entire time, (because that's what I do when I'm nervous), Todd was white and shaking (because that's what he does when he's nervous), my maid of honor, Kelly, cried (loudly), and one of my other bride's maids almost passed out because she hadn't eaten and had some wine at my house before we left and the ceremony was FOREVER. So, we finally got to the end and begin to walk down the aisle when the garter that my best friend's (Racquel) mother made for me slid off my leg and I had to stop half way down so I could take it off.

After a half a million more pictures, we were off to the reception to take MORE pictures and say hello to a HUGE amount of Italian people and a few of Todd's relatives. We had a great time, but there are some memories that continue to stick with me to this day. Let's see, OK, there was this guy that I worked with who asked if he could play his harmonica. I said, sure, and he played and played and played. We had to make him stop. The video guy apparently thought I wanted a half hour of this on the video. What else? The husband of a girl I worked with was there in his denim jeans and wallet on a chain. He REALLY liked Bob Seger; he even had a special little dance he performed. On the way to the reception, (don't ask me why) I decided we should go through the McDonald's drive through. While we were waiting, my maid of honor and I jumped out of the limo and started dancing in the parking lot because we liked the song that was playing in the car behind us. When we cut the cake and prepared to "feed" each other, Todd was, well I don't know what he was doing, but he was not doing what I wanted him to do. So, being the sweet, respectful woman I was (not), I told him (and this is on video), "Shut up and eat the *** **** cake!" Wow! Can you believe we've made it this long???