Dateline Dayton — The first of September was our 48th wedding anniversary. Today I would like to share some events along the way to that special day.
After Pauline changed her mind, and I had asked her parents’ permission for her hand, we started planning our wedding. By the way, Pauline’s parents were nice. They were not at all surprised. She could have answered “yes” the first time. It would have saved me a lot of grief. Possibly she had reservations, and rightfully so.
Since we knew Pauline’s brother was going to be ordained a Catholic priest in June of 1963 and I wanted a holiday weekend wedding, we chose Sept. 1, 1962, followed on Monday by Labor Day. That way our out-of-town friends and guests would have an extra day and not miss much, if any, work.
We had the date set, some of the arrangements in place when we learned that Joe’s ordination was going to be in December of 1962, due to the Bishop being in Rome. We took on as much of the planning and preparation as we could to lessen the burden for Pauline’s parents.
First, the Easy Part
After the first of the year, we started furniture shopping, trying to determine what we liked and could afford, with the majority of the emphasis on afford. We would go looking or window shoppingoften. Finally, we chose early American décor.
On one these excursions Pauline found lovely dresser lamps at a furniture store in another city. One night, on my way home from work, I stopped and purchased the lamps. We were celebrating some special day; I can’t recall what it was. Of course, due to stopping I was late for whatever we had planned that evening and was she upset. Her mood changed quickly when I presented her with the lamps. I again became a sweetheart.
Throughout the summer we continued our planning, she purchasing her dress and taking care of other items that required the attention of a couple getting married.
Color Me Pink. I Mean Blue.
Since we were going to live in Dayton, in July we started looking for a place to live. We found a lovely duplex in a nice neighborhood, and the rent was right. We rented the place starting the first of August. The landlord told us we could do anything we wanted and they would pay for the materials. We painted most of the rooms and put down a new floor in the kitchen.
The bathroom was pink, but in good shape. So we left it alone. The one thing that did need replacing was the toilet seat. I was given the task of purchasing a new seat. While reading the newspaper, I noticed that a major department store had toilet seats on sale for $2.99, and off to town I went to purchase one. We wanted a white seat. Naturally, they were fresh out of white. However, they had a blue one. That would be fine, I said. There just about wasn’t a wedding due to that toilet seat. In no uncertain terms, I was told, “You don’t use blue with pink.” For years I would always point out any time I saw blue being used with pink. Yes, we did have a blue seat in a pink bathroom!
When we got everything completed, just prior to our wedding, we had a lovely apartment.
Somehow after the toilet seat fiasco, I was still entrusted to make the rental arrangements for our afternoon reception. I handled this assignment flawlessly, reserving the assembly hall at a local park, for the correct date and paid the exorbitant rental fee of $15.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
