Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." — Romeo
Saturday morning began just like any other day in our lives, almost! The exception was that although I'd managed to remain calm, cool, and collected while preparing for the biggest event that would influence the rest of our lives, on Saturday, the "Wedding Day" jitters hit! Big time! Our list of "things to do" was the shortest its been in a while and thankfully provided me with something to focus my attention on.
Early in the morning, we ran a few errands, picking up my beautiful bouquet, the meat and cheese trays, my dear daughter, Amber, before I arrived at Rita's at noon for her to work her magic on my hair. Returning home, Don and I laughed and joked around while putting the finishing touches on our home in preparation of our wedding ceremony and reception. We found some time to sit and relax in the afternoon and began talking about some of the special moments we both remembered from spending the previous eight years together. Feeling comfortable and content with just being us, just the way we were, I decided last minute not to change my clothes that I had originally intented to wear.
Shortly after 5 p.m., our guests began to arrive. Chuck, our minister, Jim and Rosella, Don's best man and my matron of honor. We did a brief walk through of where we'd stand and discussed some last minute details of the ceremony and event. Shortly afterwards, Aunt Alice arrived. I have to tell you some of the history of this event, it's part of what assisted in making our day so special amd memorable!
Don and Jim have been best friends ever since they were young. I'm going to guess they were approximately seven or eight years of age at the time. Anyways, as all good friends do, they used to laugh and joke with one another that they would one day be related by family. Little did either of them know, that their wish would one day come true. Years later, Don's father passed away and shortly thereafter, Jim's father would pass on, too. This left Aunt Alice a widow, but not for too long a period. A few years later, Aunt Alice met, fell in love, and married Don's Uncle Carroll. After living many years together and sharing a happy life, Aunt Alice was once again widowed after Uncle Carroll passed away. There's an uncanny sense of resemblance between Don's father, Vernal and Carroll. For being brothers, you'd swear that they were twins although a few years separated them in age. But anyways, Aunt Alice searched for the "just right" gift to give to us on our wedding day and arrived with a treasured family heirloom that neither of us nor our guests knew anything about.
As Don and I opened the gift, Aunt Alice told us the story behind the photograph and the frame, and that is the story I'm repeating today. The gift was a picture and picture frame. The picture was of Don's uncle Carroll, in his work clothes. Carroll was a construction worker who built houses and did remodeling projects for many, many years along beside Don's dad. The frame is a beautiful handcrafted frame from the 1800's, filled with family history. Behind the framed picture of Carrol, lies an "In Memorandum" card of Mary Myrtie Reames. Mary died on January 25th, in 1891 at the age of 14 yrs., 6 mos., 23 days. Her father handcrafted the frame to hold the "In Loving Remembrance" card of his dear daughter's death. This family heirloom was discovered in the remains of Uncle Carroll's possession by Aunt Alice after Carroll's death. Desiring for the card and the photograph of Carroll to remain in the Reams family {who had long ago dropped the additiona "e" from the Reames family name} Alice gifted this us on our wedding day!
As our additional guests arrived, the photograph and frame was passed around and the story behind it retold several times. It will remain in our family, perhaps one day re-gifted to yet another Reams family member on their wedding day, truly bringing both the treasured heirloom and the meaning of family, to another beautiful bride.
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