The Happy Couple!

That's us - forty years ago on November 24th, 1968. I barely remember the historic moments that took place that year because first, I was in school, then I got a job and then I got married and I was all of nineteen!! The photo is faded from having hung on the wall at my mother-in-law's house. I wanted to scan a better one from our album but it is a "landscape" photo and I cannot figure out how to scan, copy and rotate it and then get it to upload to blogger. I don't like the way this one looks because it doesn't "fill the frame" so when my son comes out for Thanksgiving dinner, I am going to ask for a little help in the scanning and uploading of old photos. I wanted to post pictures from our trip to Turkey but I am doing something totally wrong because they scan in too small and my not so young brain has been taxed to the limit tonight. Sooooooooooooooo..............
let's go back to our wedding picture and when I was nineteen. I really, really liked my wedding gown. My mother made it and all the bridesmaids dresses, too. She was a gifted seamstress, no two ways about it! I can still recall when we purchased the fabric. We went to the Boston Store in Fort Dodge, Iowa and road up to the second floor on the elevator to the fabrics and drapery department. There was actually still an attendant on the elevator at that time. I remember the yards of fabric that the clerk ran through that little machine that clicked off the yardage. Some of you will have no idea what I am talking about and others will go "oh, I remember those!" My mother bought a lovely soft white satin and then a couple yards of Alencon lace. She saved the extra lace and when our daughter got married, I used that leftover yard of lace in her gown. I have both wedding gowns and sometimes they are fun just to look at. My mother sewed hundreds of seed pearls on the lace on my dress and I did the same on my daughter's dress, both were labors of love. It's really too bad that a wedding dress is only worn once. Someday these may be worn again, though. One never knows what the future holds.
Following our wedding, my husband, Steve and I thought our future was in California. We were a young couple from central Iowa who headed to San Diego where a job awaited him at General Dynamics. Didn't last long, though, as the local draft board, said......"come on back, we want you in the Army!" And so, we returned to Iowa and I went to live with his folks and Steve went off to basic training and then into the Air Force. It's funny how things go, because I had gone to a business/airline type school in Minneapolis (Humboldt Institute) because a guidance counselor at my high school thought my dreams of being a fashion designer were just a little too lofty and "perhaps secretarial training would be better".........and so I thought........if I have to do secretarial jobs let's do it at a travel agency and the perk will be travel to exotic places. The funny part is that it wasn't my job that took us too exotic places. No, I quit my job to get married and then the military and the companies my husband worked for took us to places I never imagined. I have been so fortunate to travel and meet so many wonderful people and see so many historic sights. All in all, it's been a good forty years. There's been some "ups and downs" but if we're lucky and if "the good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise" (as Tennessee Ernie Ford used to say - dating myself again), then we will have a few more years to come. And if I'm lucky in just a few days - instead of years - maybe I can learn how to more successfully scan in those photos and show you a couple of favorite sites. That's all for tonight.
Hope you are all looking forward to a lovely Thanksgiving. I'll be posting a Christmas ornament pattern that day so gather your felt scraps and after the turkey and trimmings are put away, you can sit down and make a little memory. Smiles across the miles.................. :-)
Sandi