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Topic: ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL (01/23/20)
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TITLE: Inauspicious Beginning But Blessed Journey | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mariane Holbrook
01/29/20 -
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What do you do when your heart says "YES" but your head says "NO?
The college that my fiancé and I attended had a strict rule that no undergraduates could marry or they would be penalized by being denied admission for one year. Archaic and old-fashioned, to be sure, but it was nevertheless standard policy in Christian colleges during the 1950s.
When I graduated, John still faced another year before he'd don a mortarboard and tassel. The idea of our being separated for a year until our wedding was too difficult to imagine so we decided to marry that summer.
To finance it, we kept our jobs near the college throughout the summer. Four days before the late August wedding, we each returned to our parents' homes to make preparations.
The first indication that we should have listened to our heads rather than our hearts came when I phoned a church friend to ask if everything was going well with the reception plans. A long pause followed after which she stammered, "Uh, was I supposed to help with the reception?"
"What?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing. "When I was home last time, I asked if you'd be in charge of it and you agreed. We discussed food, cost, arrangements, everything. Don't you remember?"
"I'm so sorry but I don't. I've had so much on my mind lately that I don't remember that conversation at all. Are you sure it was me that you asked?"
I hung up the phone, teetering between disappointment and despair.
Next, I called my sister who lived across town to check on the corsages, the flowers for the church and the reception.
Quickly, she responded, "Didn't I tell you Tracy's Florist had a fire a week ago and can't fill the order? I told mom to tell you but she's so busy making your gown that I guess she forgot."
I asked her to come over right away for an emergency planning session.
Sitting around the kitchen table with my parents and sister, I wrung my hands and stared at them in unbelief and confusion.
"Isn't anyone taking this seriously?" I asked as the color drained from my face. Today is Wednesday and the wedding is Saturday night. I stayed at my job until the last minute so I could bring home more funds and all that time I was sure you all had it under control. I don't know where to even start."
"Just a minute, dear," Mother said. "We've all been under tremendous stress with your sister Margie's situation in the Philippines. First, there was the mudslide when they lost their home, then Bob and Debbie contracted Polio and were airlifted back to the States for treatment in New York City. We've been beside ourselves with worry but we'll get things done, I promise you."
On Thursday, the photographer phoned to say his camera wasn't working well and he was trying to borrow one in time for the wedding. Meanwhile, he suggested, "You'd better get someone else lined up, just in case I can't."
Friday morning, John called from a payphone in New York City where he had just picked up his parents at Grand Central Station. They had bravely boarded a train in North Carolina during Hurricane Diane, the costliest hurricane of its time to hit the Atlantic Coast. Relieved that they arrived safely, John began the four-hour drive with them to my home in upstate New York.
While riding along a busy street in New York, John's car overheated. In his haste to correct the problem, he lifted the cap from the hot radiator, releasing boiling-hot steam directly onto his face, neck, and hands.
His mother was applying a cream recommended by a nearby pharmacist but his pain was agonizing.
After his phone call, I sat dazed beside my family.
My sister said quietly, "You know you don't have to go through with this."
"True," I insisted. "But we've come this far and we won't stop now."
My sister began calling friends and neighbors to see if they had any flowers around their houses they could donate for the church and the reception.
Several relatives were called to make sandwiches, cookies, and punch for the reception to be held in the church fellowship hall.
The simple, beautiful wedding went off without a hitch. Our parents prayed with us before we left for our honeymoon.
Our decision to marry has served us well for more than 64 years.
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I would like to know the college' reaction to having a married student enrolled...