Dateline Dayton — Our wedding and honeymoon.
On the Friday prior to our wedding, I worked a half day, got my paycheck and went to the bank. I knew the teller, and he asked what I was doing in town (Piqua) at this time of day. I told him I was getting married in the morning, probably shouldn’t be, as I had no money. He told me, “I had no money prior to getting married and have no money today. So what is the difference?” By the way, his marriage didn’t last.
On Friday evening we had rehearsal at church. Then the wedding party went to dinner at the bowling alley. After dinner, those who could stay bowled a couple of games.
Saturday morning came up beautiful. It also was very hectic at my parents’ home. I got ready and decided to go for a ride. I’m not sure whose car I used. Mine was in Dayton. No one was going “get” the car. I drove out into the country, thinking about what a great day this was going to be, marrying the girl of my dreams. Not once during my drive did the thought occur to me that the car might break down and I would be stranded in the countryside. This was long before cell phones. I made it to the St. Boniface Church on time!
Since Pauline’s father had suffered a stroke some years before, it was uncertain if he would be able to walk her down the aisle. He did, though, and it was emotional for everyone.
Drawing an Enchanting Picture
The ceremony was beautiful, Pauline’s brother being one of the con-celebrants. The choir consisted of classmates of my brother-in-law Joe from the seminary. The organist was a friend of the family. After the ceremony and the necessary pictures, we drove through town, making sure to go past the shoe store, in the best man’s convertible.
When we returned to St. Boniface School, across from the church, the cafeteria ladies (Pauline’s mother was in charge of the cafeteria) had prepared dinner for the wedding party. After completing dinner we proceeded to the park for our reception, which consisted of cake, ice cream and punch. The reception was simple, inexpensive and our marriage has lasted all these years.
Following the reception and changing clothes, the best man drove us to Dayton (he lived there) to get our car. I had made a hotel reservation in Dayton for that evening, so we didn’t have far to travel. After arriving at the hotel, I tried to get reservations in their restaurant for later in the evening and was told they had none. Today the facility is vacant. It didn’t last, but our marriage does.
By this time it was raining. We ventured outdoors to a nice restaurant, and we were seated quickly. After having a nice meal, we proceeded to the valet station to get our car. We waited and waited, only to learn they couldn’t locate our car. Quite some time later, they found the car, although it may not have been as long as it seemed to us.
On Sunday we attended church and then drove to Cedar Point, an amusement park on Lake Erie. We spent Sunday and Monday there, having a great time at the park and the beach. On Tuesday morning we headed for Niagara Falls, the Canadian side. Once we crossed the bridge, we saw these people waving at us and not knowing any better we stopped. They wanted to set us up with a motel, tour, and a stop at the Chamber of Commerce to get a certificate of our honeymoon visit.
How Do You Pronounce Your Hometown?
We fell for it hook, line and sinker. We ended up in a second class motel, which didn’t make either of us happy, but at that point couldn’t figure out what else to do, so we stuck it out. At least it was clean.
The tour was good and the stop at the Chamber office was interesting. Locals pronounce Piqua as Pick-way. When the staff asked where we were from, we said Pick-way, and spelled it for them, P-I-Q-U-A. We were handed an envelope containing the certificate acknowledging that we spent our honeymoon at Niagara Falls. We didn’t look at the certificate, but when we got home we saw that they spelled Piqua, Piquaway. The spelling wasn’t correct, but our marriage has been.
From Niagara Falls we drove on into Canada and then headed for Greenfield Village in Michigan. We were traveling with no credit card, thus we were paying cash, which was running low. I was hoping that the motel in Michigan would take a check, but they wouldn’t.
On our way to Greenfield Village, I stopped at a bank and inquired about cashing a check for $15, explaining the situation. It took the manager and teller)forever, but they did cash the check. I assumed they called the bank in Piqua to make sure I had the funds, since it was for a considerable sum, yes, fifteen dollars.
After spending Friday touring Greenfield Village, we headed back to Piqua and then on to our apartment in Dayton.
Next, The Real World.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
