Aug 18 2008
Wedding - Past in Polaroids 2
The Seventies. The Decade of Leisure Suits and eyeglasses coated to darken in the sun. My blond/blue-eyed mother, surrounded by her dark-headed children, posed for my father on the back porch of the house we’d move out of just after the bicentennial.
He always took pictures of us squinting into the sun. We were headed to my Uncle’s wedding.
My Dad is the second of four children. One girl, “S”, then my Dad, then “D” then “M”. (Don’t worry, you won’t need to remember the order, or even anything more than the fact that “D” is my dad’s brother.)
So, “D”. My Uncle D was the original Runaway Groom. This man had broken 3 engagements (three!, yes!, count’em!) prior to the day pictured above.
- Bride-to-be #1 was before I could actually remember.
- Bride-to-be #2 got closer to the altar than #1. I recall being asked to be one of the flower girls, but we never made it to the actual dress-picking-out. I also vaguely remember there being some sort of nastiness surrounding the non-return of the engagement ring. (Read about engagement ring etiquette here.)
- Bride-to-be #3 has the best story. It was the day of the wedding. She was at the salon getting her hair done. We were getting dressed and ready to leave the house to head over to the church. Our phone rang - it was Uncle D. “Don’t bother coming out - I’m not going through with it.”
I always suspected my grandmother had something to do with these fiascoes, but no one talks about them anymore.
So, there we were, posing in the sun on our way to the wedding - all the while keeping our ears peeled for the phone ringing in the kitchen.
In the days before cell phones, we wondered the entire way to the reception hall if he’d gone through with it. (At least there was no church ceremony - Aunt K was smart enough to know that being left at the altar was worse than being left at the beauty shop!)
This wasn’t their exact wedding cake topper, but it was close -
Image courtesy of www.topsthecake.com
The luncheon was lovely and Aunt K and Uncle D lasted ten or twelve years before he divorced her. Amazingly enough, he remarried AGAIN - although by that time, we were so tired of getting ready for Uncle D’s weddings - none of us went.
—- Maybe if he would have read the book I reviewed over at Hot Reviews Books…or maybe not. Aunt K was kind of a strange fit into the family - think “original Earth Mother meets Dorky CPA” - without the Dharma & Greg cuteness of it all. —-
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Are you sure you weren’t wearing those dark glasses because you’d previously been blinded by the sharp points of those GINORMOUS lapels?
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Wow… three engagements. Now I’m curious as to why. Do you think it was all your grandma’s doing? Or do you think he just decided he wasn’t ready?
Jennifer @ The Cubicle’s Backporch’s last blog post..The problem with boats. (And pre-warning of PiF contest!)
Your uncle is lucky he LIVED to be married the fourth time! Especially after calling the one at the salon on the wedding day. I so would have killed him. Cute picture, though. VERY ’70’s.
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
I made HOT commenter of the month! WHOOO! (I’ve been trying for that for two months now.)
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Poor wife #3! I mean, it’s a shame for all of them, but that must really have stung!
Solomon’s last blog post..Things I’m Grateful For on Sunday 17 August
Had I been fiance #3, Uncle D would have been hard pressed to back out of his funeral.
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I am just diggin’ the leisure suit. My dad had a powder blue one. And a green one. Turns my stomach just to remember them, lol.
flutterby’s last blog post..Play Nice… And Don’t Eat Your Friends
And now..the glasses getting darker is back in style. Mom didn’t think to put her purse down for the picture..I love that.
mp’s last blog post..MP’s To Do List
But you have got to agree that walking away from a wedding is a lot better than suffering through a nasty divorce.
Karen’s last blog post..Just To Let You All Know:
My husband graduated from High School in 1976 and I never miss an opportunity to give him crap about the light blue, edged in brown tux he wore to his prom. **shudder** this picture is bringing back memories. Why did everyone hate cotton?
I love your Polaroid idea - can’t wait for more.
Jenny’s last blog post..MM - Song
uh wow I’m glad i can only remember a little of the 70’s lol
Obi-son’s last blog post..Danting rants to come
The look on your mothers face says it all - “I had better be rewarded with LIQUOR for going to yet another one of these fiascoes…”
Priceless!
Chris’s last blog post..Whirrrr, whirrrr, whirrrrrrr……….
YIKES!!! 3 engagements…those poor girls…
Carrie’s last blog post..Meme and Taggie….EEP!
Wow - what a story!! Those women were lucky he called things off!! I sure don’t blame ya’ll for refusing to go to the last weddin’. hahahaha Great post!!
Sally’s last blog post..Good Monday Morning…
Gee. My relatives were so boring.
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Shelly is a damn cheater.
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
posting two comments in one post.
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
Just so she can be hot commentor of the month
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
I mean, who does such a thing?
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
Is it commentor or commenter?
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
Or even common-tater. I like that one.
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
Sick of me yet? You know I totally love you right?
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
and the man still lives to tell the tale… holy!
Thats a feat in itself!
KC’s last blog post..Gone Fishing?.
Kelly - that’s playing really dirty.
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
But I can fight fire with fire.
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Word Press just told me I was posting comments too fast! HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Kelly is going DOWN!
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Ah! Back in Hot commenters, where I belong! Love to all!
Shelly’s last blog post..Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Everytime I read the wedding announcements I applaud people’s courage and faith to embark on one of the toughest commitments in life. Ever. Damn. Time.
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That is a great picture! I love it!
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Would it be wrong of me to say that I wasn’t even born when this photo was taken?
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YOU wanna play with ME Shelly?
Bwaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaaa!
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
Hey Ree, remember that ‘I am gunna be last post’ of mine?
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
The one that got almost 200 comments from people wanting to be last?
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
I wont do that to you, but just rest assured Shelly….
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
don’t mess with the Ninja…
Kelley’s last blog post..One of those days.
hahahaha… I think in the 70’s people didn’t realize a photo could be taken WITHOUT looking into the sun. My family has a few where we’re all squinting into the blinding sun.
I’m DYING to find a blue (I’d take brown) leisure suit for Mr Hyphen. He’d wear it, too. Because he’s JUST THAT FUNNY. I gotta start perusing the thrift stores.
I’d think that if any woman knew there had been ’several’ other broken engagements, they’d have run away kicking and screaming.
Hyphen Mama’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday–Tarantula