The Big Day

My husband and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on December 5th. Thirty years ago, I was taking final exams to finish up my undergraduate requirements at Goucher College. Finals and wedding plans made for a rather hectic time. I was stressed, but I had everything well-planned, as any great ruler would.

Tim was in flight school at Whiting Field in Florida and had just a few days of leave for the wedding, the rehearsal, and the honeymoon. He was due in to Baltimore Friday afternoon, just a few hours before the rehearsal. He knew he faced my wrath if he was late. The night before some of his flight school buddies had taken him out on the town for a bachelor party!

The rehearsal went well, but I don’t think the Naval Academy chaplain was happy with me. I had made several changes to the format of the standard chapel wedding. We had our rehearsal dinner at the Officer’s Club, and then I sent my husband-to-be, his friends, brother, and all the males in the wedding party to my grandfather’s house for a proper male shower. Tim had no idea that I had already arranged a well-supervised bachelor party for him!

We were up at 4am at my parents house. The photographer was coming to the house to get family pictures before we went to Annapolis. The wedding was scheduled for 1pm, and my bridal party was gathered at a B&B in Annapolis where they had stayed the night before, just to make sure there were no late arrivals. So the plan was to have pictures at the house first, drive to Annapolis, and have pictures with the bridal party at 11am.

It all went like clockwork. I had planned everything down to the most minute detail. What I hadn’t planned on was my husband’s late arrival to the alter. It’s a long aisle at the academy chapel, and when I told my father that I didn’t see Tim at the altar, he assured me that my eyes were bad!

But when we arrived at the end of the aisle, there was no groom, no best man, and no ministers. One of the groomsmen went to check, but came up empty-handed. The organist started playing again, and after what seemed like an eternity, the missing parties appeared! Tim later told me that the two ministers performing the ceremony were talking and missed the knock on the door to head to the sanctuary. Apparently a frantic woman came in moments later telling them that the bride was at the altar. They had to run through John Paul Jones’s crypt, and my husband said that he wasn’t sure what the tourists were thinking!

After the ceremony, we were picked up by a classic Rolls Royce. We drove through downtown Annapolis and watched as shopkeepers were putting up Christmas decorations. People waved to us and smiled. I felt like a princess, a princess who had found her handsome prince.

Little did this poor guy know that I was now queen, ruler supreme! It’s been a wonderful thirty years of reign.

My White Knight--The USNA Midshipman

On December 5th, my husband and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We’ve actually be together for more than thirty-one years, but it took me over nine months to convince him that he should marry me!

One July evening in 1980, my friend, Rose, and I decided to go check out the midshipman at the Naval Academy. We actually had a high school friend who was attending the academy, so we planned to visit him. When we checked in at the Bancroft Hall office (,Bancroft Hall is the large “dormitory” where the entire brigade of midshipmen is housed), we found out that our friend had been sent off somewhere on a training program.

Rose and I decided to observe the male scenery since we had already driven all the way from Westminster to Annapolis. As we strolled through Dalgren Hall, a young, attractive man passed us and said, “Good evening, ladies.” We smiled and greeted him in return. I assumed that because of his attire he must be part of the janitorial staff at the academy. I mean after all, how many young available midshipmen would be walking the academy grounds wearing green corduroy bell bottoms, brown suede desert boots, and a Farrah Fawcitt tee shirt! Not exactly high fashion, but he did have a nice smile.

Rose and I continued to the building’s exit and were surprised when the young janitor was waiting at the door for us, holding it open like a true gentleman. The janitor walked with us, through the academy gates and into town. As we walked, he confided that he was a first class midshipman! A senior! We also learned that his name was Tim.

After he dropped a letter into the mailbox we passed, he asked us if we would join him for a drink. I nodded, and he motioned to a bar across the street. “How about at my place,” he said and pointed to the sign, “Timmy’s Bar and Grill.”

By that point, he had pretty much swept me off my feet. What sealed the deal was his rescuing the fifty-cents that I lost in the jukebox. Over our drinks, I suggested that we head into Baltimore to see what was going on downtown. I also mentioned that it sure would be nice if we had another midshipman to go with us, because we were obviously an uneven number.

Back at the academy, we managed to round up another mid. Tim offered to take his car. As we hopped into the car, I made absolutely sure to snag the seat next to the driver!

We had a wonderful evening sitting up on top of Federal Hill at the Inner Harbor. I don’t think that I had ever laughed so much in my life! When we all realized that it was after two in the morning, and that the mids had missed curfew, they devised a plan to sneak back into Bancroft Hall.

Just before he climbed through a Bancroft Hall window, that handsome firstie promised me that he would call me later on that week. I know that I floated back to my car with Rose. It had been an amazing night.

It was after four in the morning when I finally got back home. I was beaming and I knew that I would not be able to fall asleep. I tiptoed into my parents room and woke my mother. “Mom,” I said, “tonight I met the man that I’m going to marry.” “That’s nice,” she said. “Now go to bed.”

We still laugh about the corduroy bell bottoms to this day! I made him change his clothes before we left Annapolis for Baltimore, and that letter he was mailing. It was to the girl he was dating back home in North Carolina!