The Wedding Anniversary ...

Last October, the Meuillars celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary with their children at a beautiful country resort in Muskoka. They had a succulent dinner of baby lobster and prime ribs. After dinner, they choose from a delectable array of desserts and requested that it be served with coffee in their room.

As they gathered around the small fireplace, Sylvester said, "I would consider my life a resounding success if I could have a home that is only half as happy as yours. To recognize and honor this special occasion, we want you to tell us about the proposal and your wedding day."

The precious bond between a mother and her children is one of life's richest blessings. Ms. Lucy could feel her bond strengthening by the moment.

For thirty long years the Meuillars successfully avoided recounting the events of that momentous day but as they expected, the day would come! They had hoped to avoid it for a few more years.

Ms. Lucy looked at Buddy. He was enjoying another glass of their favorite red wine. "There was no proposal", she said quietly.

"What! No proposal? Can you do that? I mean ... can people get married without a proposal?" mumbled Norm. "Sure you can! Look at us, we got married without a proposal and thirty years later we are still happily married."

"Well ... if he didn't propose, how did you know that he wanted to get married?" asked Syl.

"I didn't! I saw him. I fell in love with him and I asked him to marry me. He said OK and we got married."

"Way to go Mom. Why wait on a silly proposal!" added Kimmy.

That's when Buddy puffed out his chest and in his best macho voice said, "I came, I saw and I conquered!" Ms. Lucy's immediate reply was, "No. No. No. You came, I saw and I conquered by asking you to marry me!"

Syl answered the door and room service wheeled in a cart with a large gift-wrapped box. Kimmy stepped forward, presented it to Ms. Lucy and gave her a big hug. She then hugged Buddy and said, "Thank you both for this wonderful family."

With tears of joy streaming down her face Ms. Lucy opened the box and revealed a beautifully mounted portrait of their wedding. It included individual portraits of the kids. Ms. Lucy presented it to Buddy and said, "I'm so happy I asked you to marry me!"

Buddy refilled their wine glasses and offered a toast without words.

Ms. Lucy's rosy cheeks were still bejeweled with tears when Norm reached into his pocket and produced a Kleenex. He dried her serenely beautiful face and offered to comfort her with these words, "Don't worry Mom, this Kleenex was only used once before."

As she moved away he said, "Just kidding mom!" She smiled, gave him a big bear hug and said, "This anniversary is much better than the wedding."

"The wedding! Tell us about the wedding?" said Syl.

There was no wedding planner! We planned the wedding ourselves because we wanted to get married as quickly as possible. Your father's theory was, "If the best part of any relationship is the first part, why waste it by being away from each other?"

Within 90 days, I was at the church, waiting expectantly for his arrival. His relatives and friends were there but he was nowhere in sight. We had time to drive around the church three times before he finally showed up.

In spite of the delayed start, the church was beautifully decorated, our relatives and friends were all there and the ceremony was proceeding gloriously. Then, the priest announced those infamous words, "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

For a moment, the silence was deafening. That was just before the serene atmosphere erupted into a noisy, chaotic mess. Not in my wildest dream did I ever expect what happened next!

"What happened Mom?" shrieked little Kimmy.

First came a young pregnant woman running up the aisle shouting, "Stop! Stop! He is the father of my two children." Then came a little two-year-old screaming at the top of his lungs, "Mummy. Mummy. Wait for me!"

I looked around in time to see the blank expression on many faces and the high fives that some of the men were giving to each other. By the time the young woman got to the altar, I was shaking uncontrollably and my knees were getting weaker by the second.

Your poor father fainted and fell on the ring bearer. That scared the little flower girls and they took off in every direction. The best man had to help support your dad's mother because her legs were buckling too.

The pregnant young woman took one look at your father and asked, "Who is this man? What is he doing here?" Realizing her mistake, she explained that the local newspaper had listed the name of the groom for this wedding as Buddy Miller ... M-I-L-L-E-R, the father of her two children.

She apologized for the gross misunderstanding and the resulting chaos before leaving with little Johnny as quickly as they came. There was never a dull moment in our marriage since that time!