Spud Gun
When Doug and Joy had just started dating, we invited Joy for dinner. I made spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. Joy was surprised when she finished her meal and we were still eating and sharing about each other’s day. Her family ate fast. They were busy teachers and had tests to grade after dinner but, in our family, our work was done at the end of the day. Joy told us later she appreciated the slow-down mealtime and just being together.
Joy was athletic she excelled in basketball and got a college scholarship in volleyball. When Doug invited her to the prom, it was wonderful to see her in a beautiful, feminine silver dress. That night she went from being a tomboy to a princess. Joy had been around our house a lot and we loved the sweet, confident, joyful girl. When Doug asked her father for permission to marry her, he said yes. Then Doug took the next step to propose to her and Dave and I were thrilled to be a part of his proposal.
There is a section of public land with a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape and it was there Doug was to ask her to marry him. In the early evening, Dave and I drove up to the butte before hiding our car; we set up a card table and two chairs in addition to a linen tablecloth and napkins, plates and silverware, goblets for sparkling apple juice, and bowl for Caesar salad. After setting up the scene, we hid to protect the setting and not be seen.
The plan was successful. Joy was surprised by the romantic setting and joyfully accepted his proposal. Then Dave and I left our hiding place and embraced the happy couple. Two weeks later Dave and I sat down with Doug and talked about their honeymoon since we had told him we’d to pay for it. He decided he’d like to go to Carmel by the Sea in California a beautiful town. The first night they stayed at an elegant bed and breakfast in Ashland, but she didn’t know where they’d go afterward as he planned to surprise her.
Joy invited me to help her with wedding planning. Together we picked out her favorite flower which was stargazer lilies and we chose other flowers to complement the lily’s beauty. Some of my friends volunteered to help me make floral arrangements for the reception room tables, everything was going to be beautiful.
Joy and her family attended Lighthouse church, it was in the beginning stages and they met in a large room on the second floor of a business office which was not enough space for a wedding so it was to be held at our church New Life Christian Center. She went to our hair salon and one of the stylists did a practice hairstyle for the wedding. When she left the salon she called me to say that she got a “Nelly,” from the Little House on the Prairie television series, hairstyle. It was a fussy style with ringlet curls and it didn’t match her style at all.
The day of the wedding another stylist at the salon did Joy’s hair in an elegant style that was perfect for her. Later we learned that the stylist was bi-polar, she was probably one of the most talented stylists we ever worked with, but her mood swings aborted her career. Fortunately that day the stylist was in her best creative form. I’m not sure how my undiagnosed bipolar would have handled the situation if the stylist had gotten aggressive.
Serena was a bridesmaid for Joy and was four months pregnant with her baby. They were both concerned if how her bridesmaid dress would fit but fortunately, she was able to wear the dress and it didn’t have to be altered. We were going to have the wedding rehearsal dinner in our back yard. We worked hard to make it beautiful we planted brilliant colors in the flower beds and the raised beds on our deck and in front of our little barn. I love flowers and it was fun to plant more than we usually did for the special occasion. At the dinner, we met the pastor of the church and the entire wedding party including the maid of honor, bridesmaids, best man, groomsmen, candle lighters, ring bearer, flower girls, and their parents they were all from the Lighthouse church family.
Dave planned a fun activity which was typical of him. He planned to shoot a spud gun. The gun was a four-inch PVC pipe fitted with a two-inch piece of PVC pipe. The top had a hole drilled for ventilation, and the propellant was aerosol hair spray, who knew that the spray would enable a potato fly? It was great fun we applauded the winner of each round by how far their potato flew.
July 13th was the big day and when it came it was the hottest day of the summer. Joy was a joyful bride and it was marvelous to watch her walk up the aisle to stand beside her groom, Doug. The reception dinner was held in the fellowship room at the church. It was the first time I’d seen or eaten chocolate-covered strawberries. The wedding cake had a layer of chocolate, Joy is our chocolate-loving, daughter-in-law. To top off the perfect day, Doug’s best friend Josh's father drove Doug and Joy away in his antique car.
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