Go down Memory Lane til you turn left on Silver Bullet St.

Meeting

I met my husband at the Silver Bullet Saloon. I was waitressing the night he came in. He came in with a group of friends from work. They sat in the farthest corner of the bar from the bathroom.

When I came over to take their orders, I said to Randy "Are you OK?" Randy said, "Yes, why?" Me: "Because you're holding your stomach like your going to be sick." (Thinking don't you dare puke this far from the john!) Randy: "Oh, sometimes I just think I'm Napoleon." (He had his hand inside his coat.) OK! On with the ordering and drinking.

First Date

Later, he noticed that I was wearing an engagement ring. He asked, "Do you wear that ring because you are engaged or just keep guys like me away?" I told him I was engaged. I was. He asked, "Do you cheat?" I quipped, "Only if it's worth my while." and walked away.

Still later, he asked to meet me at Denny's after the bar closed. (Mind you, I got off at 3AM!) I thought he would never make it, so I agreed to keep from being pestered the rest of the night.

Well, the bar closed at 2AM and when we were done counting and cleaning up the barmaid and I left together. We told never to go to the parking lot alone that late. Dione looked at me and said, "He's sitting on the hood of his car!" He was!

So we went to Denny's. I guess it was a first date because we're still here.

First Kiss

Well, after breakfast at Denny's was the first kiss. He kissed me first.

The kiss that hooked me was about a week later. He came to the bar to see me and had to leave. I was behind the bar and had the waitress stand there for a minute because we couldn't leave the bar unattended. I ran to the hallway and called his name. He turned and I ran to kiss him. I was on cloud nine the rest of the night!

Length of Courtship/Engagement

We met in March of 1988. We were engaged at Eastertime in 1989 and married in July, 1989.

Where Engaged?

We got engaged at Randy's grandparents home. I had already met his mom and one of his brothers. (His father passed in 1987 and the other brother was in the Army.) So we went up north for Easter to meet grandma and grandpa. Very old fashioned. We stayed in separate rooms.

We went for a moonlight walk and he proposed while we were standing in a mudpuddle.

We went back to the house to ask grandpa (Methodist minister) to perform the ceremony. He agreed and said "I was wondering when this was going to happen. How long have you known each other?" "About a year." "That's long enough!"

We asked them not to tell anyone until we could get rings and make it formal. Grandma said, "Wait right there!" She ran to her room and came back with a ring that you would get as a free gift for ordering anything from the Lillian Vernon catalog and handed it to Randy in a small plastic bag. He handed it to me. She said "Oh no! You get down on your knee and do it right!"

So he got down on his knee and in front of his grandparents asked me to marry him.

Where Married?

Let's back up some.

We were at my parents' house to tell them. Dad had to return a rental truck so Randy went with him to tell him. He was a little nervous to tell my mom, so I did. At the time, she was less than pleased but came around about 6 months later and said "Now I understand why you did what you did." She really liked my highschool sweetheart.

Randy told my dad on the return trip from the rental place. Upon Randy's announcement, Dad's reply was "Well, that great! What did she say?" "Yes, of course!" "Well, she's strong and has made her decision."

On to the planning and food!

The wedding and reception were in my parents' yard. The family all pitched in with food, flowers, decorating, cleaning, etc. We planned, made lists and diagrams. The week before the wedding I was home and helping with the preparations. We cooked and cleaned and preened the yard! Wow!

My father gave me away as his sister sang and we were married by Randy's grandfather. We were attended by 4 bridesmaids and 4 groomsmen. Truly beautiful!

Reception

We ate great food and had fun visiting with family and friends. When Randy's granparents left we broke out the beer and wine and dancing! We tossed bouquets and garters off the balcony and someone stole my shoe!

Honeymoon

We began at a bed and breakfast inn and then went on to a cabin on the AuSable River. Randy showed his true "cityboy" and so we went to Traverse City and toured around.