A December Wedding, 1941

Today is my parents’ wedding anniversary. They were married for 39 years when my mother died. They married in Ringgold, Georgia 13 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I seriously doubt that their wedding was planned before December 7. I have a wooden bead from my mother’s wedding dress. That is all. No pictures. Not the dress itself and no description from my mother except that the bead was part of some sort of belt on the dress. It is one of those things I wish I had asked about. Not only the dress, but the wedding itself. How did it come about? Why Ringgold, Georgia? What did Daddy wear? Were there flowers? Music? It was at the First Baptist Church with Dr. William G. Studer officiating. That much I know from a newspaper clipping of my mother’s picture and the announcement of the marriage. I also know that no matter what the dress looked like, my mother was beautiful that day. Eighteen years old and beautiful. My 20-year old dad was a lucky man. And neither one of them had any idea what the future held except that they had to separate and endure a war. Happy Anniversary.