Our Wedding

OUR WEDDING, December 5, 1970

The Prologue

Mary and I met one Saturday evening in May, 1968. She was attending nursing school at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL. I was attending electronics school in the Navy at Great Lakes, IL. We met at a dance the nursing school was hosting, several of us from the naval base heard of the dance and piled into a car to enjoy the evening. Three marriages eventually came out of that evening. She says that she knew that very evening that she and I would one day be married.

For the remainder of 1968, we saw each other as much as possible. Mary and I could get together only when I could borrow a car or fix one of my friends up with another one of the nursing students. It wasn’t always easy but we kept fixing one of my friends up with dates until one finally stuck. They were later married. We had a great time, intentionally getting lost in the Chicago suburbs so we could find our way out. We visited Old Town to see the hippies of the time, remember, this was in the late 1960’s so there were a lot of them in that area. We went to see Gone With The Wind, it was the first movie we saw together.

At the end of 1968 I left Great Lakes to go to additional school in Pensacola, FL. I was there for the first six months of 1969 then was sent to Guam for 18 months.

While in Pensacola, Mary flew down for a few days visit. It was a great time on the beach and around the town. I sent her home with a baby stuffed alligator for her mother, Vera.

I did make it home for a month’s leave in early 1970 then returned to Guam to complete that tour. It was on that trip home that Mary first made lasagna for me. Her lasagna has always been my favorite dish. On that same trip home Mary and I traveled to Kansas to visit my family. Mom and Dad didn’t know I would be home, in fact, they had no idea I was in the states. We went first to Rod and Sandy’s house where Mary and I got in the back seat of their car for the trip to Mom and Dad’s house. When we drove in, Dad answered the door and says he knew something was up. Mom had no inkling, when Mary and I walked in the door her knees gave out and she went to the floor.

The Rehearsal
The rehearsal went well, the one notable feature was that Dad was wearing a white shirt under his jacket, not unusual, but this particular white shirt was his bowling shirt with a large picture of Woody Woodpecker drawn on the back.

The Wedding Day

My family and I stayed in a Motel in Gilman, not far from Danforth the night prior to the wedding. We arose and lounged around most of the day awaiting the appointed hour. It was cold that day, very cold according to Dad. I never noticed.

I wasn’t nervous prior to the wedding; I had never been so sure of anything I had ever done. My brother, Rod, and I, along with the groomsmen, were preparing ourselves and each other in a room just off to the right of the sanctuary. We were kind of joking with each other as brothers do until Pastor Kolburg came and said it was time. We obediently followed him into the sanctuary of St. John’s Lutheran Church. There were a lot of people there from Danforth and the surrounding area. There were a few on the groom’s side of the aisle. I appreciate every one of them being there to help us celebrate the wedding festival.

As I watched Mary, coming down the aisle on the arm of her dad, Roy, she was absolutely radiant. What a wonderful picture to behold, I will never forget those few moments. There has never been anything in my life that I have been more certain of than knowing that marrying Mary was right for me.

Pastor Kolburg said something during the ceremony; I don’t remember what, that was to be taken seriously. Both Mary and I chuckled visibly. He rebuked us and let us know that what he said was to be taken seriously.

The reception was held in a large room just off the sanctuary. It was a wonderful celebration; it was obvious that Mary and her family and friends had done a lot of planning.

The Honeymoon

Our first night was in Kankakee, IL. It was a night to behold. We were two young people very much in love.

The next morning we traveled back to the Lubben farm briefly then headed to Lake Lawn Lodge in Wisconsin. It is a very nice retreat. Even though there were other people there, we were pretty much left alone to get to know each other. We played pool, which I won, ping pong, which Mary won and thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon. We later traveled back to several locations in Illinois before returning to Danforth.

The Epilogue

The wedding was almost 40 years ago, I am still certain that marrying Mary was the best thing I have ever done. She has been a wonderful soul mate, wife, friend, and lover. We have had our ups and downs just as any other couple has. We have had our hard times as well as an abundance of good times. I sometimes wish we could turn the clock back and do it all over again. Knowing what I do now, there are a few things I would do differently, most things I would do the same.