Bend Your Knees

Planning our wedding included a lot of evenings sitting down at Kripple Creek restaurant drinking coffee and cokes while going over the details of the wedding that a lot of people were giving only six months to last.

Cindy had three children and I two so our nights at the restaurant were few and far between without a table full of kids so they became part of the details of the wedding, my oldest son would be the best man and Cindy’s daughter would be the maid of honor, Cindy’s parents could not be at the wedding so Cindy’s oldest son would give her away, OK this is looking good, now my sister shows up with her two children who also want to be in the wedding because everyone else was going to be, Cindy said it was fine and this is how we ended up driving to Lubbock, Texas with seven children in a Taurus Station Wagon to buy wedding clothes.

We decided on a “Western Motif” so to say actually Cindy decided that Wranglers fit me better than dress pants so I got a new pair of black slim fit wranglers and so did all the boys, we got fine looking western shirts and I got a new pair of Justin Ropers so the male half of the wedding party was set, Cindy had her wedding dress coming in from California from her Mom and the dresses for the girls were purchased the same day as the guys stuff was, OK I did mention we had seven kids in that car with us? We got married in July so needless to say it was hot and after the shopping was done all the kids were complaining they were hungry so we had to find a place to suit seven kids, during the middle of the argument/discussion coming from the kids on where to go Cindy decided on Burger King, there we were sitting with burgers being consumed and shakes being spilled, Burger King crowns were being worn while fun was had playing on the slides and such, the kids got tired of watching Cindy and I play on the toys and were afraid we were going to be thrown out so they asked if we could leave, so we did.

They wanted to go into the mall while we were there, Cindy had a few items to look for anyway so we decided it would be a good idea, we got into the mall and all seven kids split and left us behind, it was kind of nice giving them a time to meet us back at the door and we got our shopping done in time to meet them all back without being late, sure didn’t want to get in trouble, Cindy asked why no one wanted to stay with us in the mall and we were told that we were embarrassing them, when asked how we were embarrassing them they pointed out the Burger King crown Cindy was still wearing that we had paid no attention to, we still laugh about this and tell everyone if you want to lose your kids at the mall to be sure and wear a Burger King crown.

The wedding practice went well, all seven kids got their parts right in spite of my oldest son and Cindy’s daughter vowing they could not touch each other while walking down the aisle, and the fact that Melissa was now on crutches since she had tripped and sprained her ankle, Cindy was a nervous wreck her dress had arrived and when returned from the cleaners was now ruined and a new one had to be found by tomorrow because we were getting married then, the minister who was actually a friend of mine told her to remember not to lock her knees during the ceremony because if you do it can cause you to pass out, OK now we are ready.

The wedding day came and everyone is there except for the bride, she arrived a little late due to traffic she says, I actually think she had come to her senses and was headed for Mexico but remembered that she had left the children and came back, the day had already been stressful looking for a dress which was found at the last minute and it fit her well and was an affordable price so that was a good thing, We get all the kids in line and the procession begins, they all walk down the aisle on cue and everything is going well, then here comes the bride, she steps through the door with her son and starts to walk down the aisle, I could see the look of fear on her face from where I was standing so to get a smile, not realizing everyone saw me too I start bending my knees and mouth “bend our knees—bend your knees” Cindy starts laughing and makes it down the aisle just fine, the look of pain on Randy’s face from her grip on his arm was something I couldn’t help him with at the time, I think it made him more apt to give her away to get the grip released.

The ceremony began with Adam and Eve, I didn’t remember this part but being my friend the ministers first wedding ceremony I think he was going to make it last until he saw that Cindy was about to pass out, he whispered a few words to her and cut to the chase, I Do—I Do and we were on our way out the door as husband and wife, I’ll cut this post short for now and just say that come July we will have twelve and a half years on top of our first six months, so thirteen years later I am proud of our kids, they are all grown now and on their own but we still get a laugh at the fun we had planning this wedding and marvel at the joy of including them in it, I am proud of our little family.