WEDDING CONTINUED

Well, here we are overlooking beautiful Lake Tahoe, twenty-six hours and no sleep later. My Mom and brother thought that it had been the worst storm they had ever seen even in Maine.

My nice little Toyota now looks like dogshit because the chains took off all the paint and is dented all around the wheel wells. It was one of those trips that can only get worse. The wedding was supposed to be in six hours and the kids were still supposed to go to Minden to get the license.

My hubby in the Bronco had the directions to the rental company so we could pick up the keys and find our house. This took about another hour.
We drove on over to the house and the snow was up over the windows-no path, etc.

Now my husband who only lived one year in Maine says lets just all wade inside. They should be along shortly to plow us out and then we'll unload everything. Those of us who spent our lives in Maine, just looked at each other, grabbed an armload, and started wading. The plastic on the wedding dress was frozen to the hatchback window. I still feel so sick that I know my mood is only going to get worse. After everything is in the house, Hubby borrows a shovel from the people next door. By the way, the plow showed up at seven that night.

My brother, the electrician, got the dryer working and the heat streaming. Mom and I made hot coffee and pulled out the homemade donuts. The house was really spacious and comfy so we all calmed down and relaxed. Even my Brother, the comic electrician, had not been up to snuff. He now got back to his funny, funny self.

Basically, everything turned out fine. The road to Minden was shut down so the kids had to pick another chapel and get married the next day. We had to delay the wedding cake but the lady was very cooperative. The son-in-law's family couldn't make it because of the storm but he had friends there and the wedding was videotaped. We had tons of barbecued beef, donuts, cookies and other food because we expected a crowd so we ate very, very well.

My daughter was a beautiful bride. She and Hubby did crash into a huge, glass flower display as he was bringing her around the corner which had everyone laughing hysterically as she walked down the aisle (told you we are all weird). I have beautiful pictures of her and her sister helping each other get ready in the dressing room. Most of all, I had all my family in one spot. We were all warm, fed, healthy and together and life doesn't get any better than that.

There was one final note on the way out of town on the last morning. My son-in-law (gloveless again) realized he had lost his new wedding ring out throwing snowballs. We went back but a ring in a snowbank is like a needle in a haystack. As the marriage only lasted a couple of years, my daughter now says that was a harbinger of things to come. At least the marrage brought my first, wonderful grandchild so who could wish it away?

She remarried a few years later and when she told me, we immediately started planning a local wedding. You are never too old to learn.