Mom and Pete have been married for 25 years!!! Can you believe it? I can't. It seems only yesterday we were all donning our coral-colored attire and feathering our hair. I wish I had access to those pictures. Pete was looking very handsome - but kinda greeny gray as well. Mom was a vision of curls and ruffles, the hourglass of her waist accentuated by a princess waistline and a sweetheart neckline. Ahhh, 9/5/87. What a day.
Weddings come and go, but there may never be another time when all those Kullatives are all in the same place with all those Esteses ever again. My uncle Chip under the same roof as my cousin Rob. My Cousin Sherri there with my Uncle Bob. Some of the precious people who were there that day are gone now - and that makes me sad. Oh, how I miss Grandma Kiddie and Pop-pop! Mrs. Carl, too. Some people we just don't see that much any more. Ritty? Is that how you spell his name?
When my mom and Pete got on that little airplane to fly to Jacksonville, my mom in her sendoff dress of turquoise and gray flowers, I was still buzzing from the day of excitement that had begun with breakfast at The Meadows'. The Meadows' was a sprawling rancher with wrought-iron detailing and a direct route up a live oak so that the Meadows' dogs could climb on the stately old roof. Then my hair had been done at the plaza that held Winn Dixie (The Beef People) with the other ladies of the wedding party. I had hated that feathered hair-do passionately although everyone else doted on how perfect it looked. I think I may even have cried about it - acted sour at the very least. Amy was instrumental in convincing me that I was not the shell-shaped horror I imagined I was but rather, a thing of Aqua Net beauty. Next we all got dressed without disturbing our hair. The ceremony was a blur. There was singing - lots of singing. I held flowers. I will always remember Pop-pop saying loudly in his Oklahoma drawl, "Her mother and I do." His voice rang through the chapel. I wish I remembered more about it, but I don't.
About midway through the reception I realized I didn't care about my hair anymore. I was having too much fun. There was a raucous bouquet toss in the back yard of Polly's house...wasn't there? I think there was at least one injury. It was really, really fun. Lots of people, lots of food, and nobody interrupting my path to the dessert / cake tables.
Some images stand out very clearly, like my mom and Pete getting onto the airplane. I waved and waved, feeling gleeful, and then went back to our house with Mimi. That night I cried hard - probably coming off of an extended sugar high. Mostly, I think I wanted to go on vacation too. Mimi comforted me with a combination of cut-it-out and it'll-be-okay that is only comforting coming from Mimi. I knew she didn't mean the part about cutting it out. Poor thing was probably ready for some shut-eye. The other thing that stands out clearly is the unbridled happiness of that day. Everyone was having fun, slapping each other on the back and giving big hugs. Loud talking and big smiles.
Thus began our life together - our own little bunch of three. In years gone by, I have cast aspersion on American weddings for being huge orgies of consumerism. Now I realize that - no matter how much or little one buys for a wedding - that they're unique opportunities for familial cohesion. Most everyone you love and who loves you is there, possibly - no, probably - for just that once in a lifetime. It's important not just for you but for everyone else.
Mom and Pete had a beautiful, happy, playful wedding. I felt the love then and I feel it now. It was really and truly an incredibly happy time. They were happy, I was happy, and everyone around us was happy, too. That's what I call a precious time.
Mom and Pete got a good start for a long haul. Mom and Pete, cheers to the airstream of your marriage, and here's to the next 25 years!
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