September 9, 1970: A date that will live in infamy....

OK, it won't really live in infamy. We just joke around about it that way. Thirty-six years ago tomorrow will be the anniversary of our wedding day. That's us in the picture, standing on the steps of the Thurston County courthouse. We were married about 7:30 in the evening by a judge in a courtroom.

A couple days before the wedding we were at my parent's house and who should roll in the driveway but Jim's parents and one of their friends, Ron Rutherford! I couldn't believe my eyes, and immediately I was thankful that my parents were sober and the house was somewhat clean! Mom made fresh coffee and my dad and Loren stood around and yakked about Navy days and whatever else that came to mind. My dad wasn't much of a talker, but he held his own. To be honest, I have no recollection of anything after they came in the house.

After we left my parent's place that evening (Mom was not prepared for dinner guests) Jim's parents wanted me to find them a motel room close to the courthouse, and Toots wanted me to find a place where she could get her hair done. By some miracle there was a beauty school just up the street from the motel so Toots was able to walk there since she did not drive. I am not sure if she liked the outcome of her hair since it was radically different than her usual "do", but she never said anything to me. I think they stayed at the Golden Gavel motel on Capitol Way.

The most humorous part of Jim's parents arriving without warning was when they offered to take him back to base to get his clothes for the wedding. He had to come clean and tell them that he had his clothes there in Olympia, which let the cat out of the bag that we were ::::gasp!:::living together! His parents never missed a beat though, they just accepted that I had deflowered their son and dropped us off at our house on Puget.

I had made all the arrangements for the judge to marry us, and my mom had bought corsages for all the women and men in the wedding party, as well as for my grandparents who attended also. My dad had given me money for a wedding dress, but he stipulated it not be white. I should have just bought a white one anyway, but he still was a force to be reckoned with in my life at that time, so I complied. Actually, it was the perfect dress for my body shape. I was very thin and had a long neck, so the empire waist and high neckline were just my cup of tea. Other than the reasoning behind why it had to be yellow, I really did like the dress and wore it for many years afterward.

Our friends Starla and Reggie Dixon were suppose to show up the night of the 9^th to be our witnesses, but they never did. I was hurt and mad about that at the time, but Jim's mom was already griping about the judge being late, and I was getting nervous standing around in the hallway of the courthouse listening to her complain. I felt like she was saying it was my fault, when there was nothing I could do about it. Judge Thorpe finally showed up and made apologies to us all and we proceeded into the courtroom.

My friend Rose Atchinson came for the wedding, and when Reggie and Starla didn't show, we had to ask that Rose be a witness as well as Ron Rutherford. If I had been thinking, I would have just asked my brother and his wife. I felt bad that I did that to Rose, making it seem like she was second best to Starla, but she was gracious and didn't say a word about it. Ron was just as gracious too and was more than happy to fill in for the no-shows.

To be honest, I just wanted to get the ceremony over with! It did seem to go very fast and since it was just a single ring ceremony, I didn't have to do that part of it. I was just so shy and quiet that I didn't want to talk in front of everyone. The next thing we knew we were shaking hands with the judge and hugging everyone else. The judge ushered us out of the courtroom and we all mingled around out on the steps smoking cigarettes (all but Jim) and visiting. My parents were dead broke at the time, so they went home and Jim and I, along with Ron and Jim's parents all went to a restaurant in town for supper.

It seems like the restaurant was the Golden Corral which is kind of coincidental considering the name of Loren and Toots' motel being "golden" something too. We went in to eat and had a nice meal as I remember, but then afterwards Jim's mom wanted us to all go in the bar and have some drinks. There was just one problem: I was only twenty years old and the legal drinking age in Washington state then was twenty-one. Jim's mom even went so far as to ask if I could just sit with them and not drink. That got a resounding "no". I was so embarrassed that she did that, partly because I just wanted to go to our motel room at the Tyee Motor Inn in Tumwater and not have Jim drink any more. Ok, truth be told, I just wanted to get away from his parents because they made me nervous. 

We eventually left the restaurant, and on the way to drop us off and get Jim's '57 Chevy at our place, Jim's mom whipped out a $50 bill and handed it to him. I guess to pay for the motel, food or something. Heck, we could have spent a week at the Tyee with that much money in those days! Ever the practical man though, we only spent one night there and then went back to our apartment in Olympia. You didn't really think I was going to tell all the details of our wedding night did you?

And so began our lives together in wedded bliss. If you know us well, that line will give you a laugh!

(c) Carol W. 2006-