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The weather was not what we had hoped for, but how much can you hope for weather-wise when your wedding date is December 28 and your wedding location is central Indiana? The day prior to the wedding was warm and rainy; the day of the wedding was cold and blustery with the beginnings of a two-week long on and off snow storm.

But weather was not my worry. We had chosen a wonderful place for our honeymoon where weather would not concern us. Chicago. The city by the lake. The windy city. And after the honeymoon we would move in to our apartment in the warm and wonderful city of Grand Rapids. In Michigan. The weather would follow us as we made our way around the southern tip of Lake Michigan from Chicago to Grand Rapids.

But I was concerned about something else. I have never cared for the practice of playing practical jokes on bride and groom at their wedding, things like painting their car with phrases that tell other drivers a newlywed couple is on the street, or like tying cans to the bumper, or filling the car with balloons. On the blustery day of our wedding, I certainly did not want to have to stand in the cold and remove a car-full of balloons before my new wife and I could take off for our Chicago honeymoon.

My best man was my brother-in-law, Bill. The morning of the wedding, Bill, sworn to secrecy, followed me in his car as I drove my car to a parking garage on the southeast side of Indianapolis. Leaving my car in the garage, I rode with Bill back to the church where the wedding was to take place a couple of hours later.

The bride was beautiful. As I watched her come down the aisle toward me, I must confess I was not thinking about the weather, or about my car. I was thanking God that He had chosen to give this wonderful, beautiful woman to me to share our lives together until death parted us, a marriage that has now passed its fortieth anniversary. The pastor said, "Do you?" and I said "I sure do!" He said, "Will you?" "I said, "You betcha!" Then he said, "You may now kiss your bride." I said, "In front of all these people? Why not?" These were not the exact words, you understand, but you get the idea.

After the ceremony and the simple reception, Bill drove my bride and me to the parking garage where our vehicle waited faithfully for our arrival. We thanked him, and off we went, out into the cold, snowy, windy December night.

That's when I began to be concerned about the weather.

Learn more about this author, Tom Parsons.
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