I rode through the streets in a horse drawn carriage with a purple parasol......

25 years ago today I easily slid into a size 8 purple taffeta ruffled dress and went to the chapel.....where my sister got married. We drove away in a horse drawn carriage....with our little parasols shading our youthful skin from the bright blazing September sun. We waved with gloved hands to our loved ones---some of them who are no longer here today---and paraded through the streets of our hometown. We made a mess of traffic from our parish on the main street down to the park a few miles down the road where pictures were to be taken. Our top-hatted driver and our regal horse carried us down the narrow cobblestone streets that were built long before cars and trollies came along. Everyone stopped to look. Even the busy people took a gander. Of course, a few people who were really busy honked their horns in disgust. Yes, they were very unromantic! I mean, we were quite a sight. A lovely, petite bride dressed in a flowing gown with her veil blowing in the wind. Her ruggedly handsome new husband in his black and grey tuxedo. Two overly dressed sisters (my other sister and I) in their bridal attendant splendor sitting alongside twirling their lacey parasols. Somehow it all became the talk of the town---it even made it to the radio waves. It was a beautiful, happy day. Yes,I remember that day as if it were yesterday. In fact, I remember exactly what I was thinking as I boarded that carriage. I was thinking about how fat I must look in that SIZE 8 dress and about how unfair it was that a pimple had appeared almost overnight. As if nothing else mattered. Not the wedding, not the carriage, not the gathering of loved ones to celebrate a beautiful occasion. I was fat and pimple ridden. In other words--I was a size 8 who was young enough to have pimples.

Happy 25th Anniversary Cathy & Rich!