Known by my Heart

I can't resist these little couples when I find them at the thrift store!

August 5th, 1978 I married my beloved and my friend in a beautiful old chapel with stained glass windows and marble walls and bridesmaids and groomsmen wearing pastel green gowns and tuxes (it was the '70s, OK?!)  The picture on the right was taken on our honeymoon, the one next to it was taken six years later with our first two children!

The day of the wedding dawned clear and we were relieved because the photos were being taken inside and outside on the beautiful campus of Northwestern College in St. Paul. The Christian college where we met  was once a seminary for Catholic priests, situated on a secluded wooded campus with a lake, the chapel was a beautiful setting for our vows.

My mother's wedding pearls hang on the angel tree topper

 My wedding gown was sleeveless, which was a blessing.  The temperature went to the upper 80s on that day and there wasn't any air conditioning in the historic campus building where we dressed or in the chapel.  

Little Grampa had an Old Spice bottle like this, I combed antique stores to find it!

Mr. Wonderful was, and still is, the man of my dreams.  He was silly and could make me laugh, he was a believer, he was tall (I am 5' 9"!), I wanted to spend my life with him and he was heading to seminary in another state after finishing his undergrad!  I didn't want him to go without me and so I got married when I was not quite 21.  As I tell my daughters now, "I would ALWAYS marry Daddy, I wouldn't get married that young!"  Daughter number one married at 22, daughter number two is 26 and still single.  Good listeners!

Our wedding garters are in the vintage planter, his is the black and white one complete with ball and chain, mine is barely blue anymore.  The cake topper sits in the middle of the table and the silver album on the left is filled with the story of our first 25 years, my husband created it for our silver anniversary nine years ago.

I hear the cottonwoods whisperin' above,

Tammy, Tammy, Tammy's in love.

The ushers escorted our two mothers down the isle to that organ tune at our wedding ceremony.  A friend told me at the reception, "I heard that song and started to cry!"  Thirty four years later, and I'm still in love.

Stay tuned for part two...