Published: July 03, 2009 02:51 pm      

Wedding stirs memories of another young bride

Building a house as big as a church has some advantages, one of them being that you can use it for a church, and last Sunday we had the privilege of witnessing another wedding at our house. It was the wedding of my grandson Aaron, and Ashley, the nice young woman who took him out of circulation.

For some reason, Janie and I were always special to Aaron. Don’t ask me why, it was just one of those things that happen. From the time he was old enough to have any mind of his own, he wanted to stay at our house. When Steve and Debbie visited, they always had to pull him kicking and screaming off of Janie or me when they went home, and I recall when Steve went to fly border patrol in Cold War Germany, it was a year before Janie washed Aaron’s handprint off the patio door at our home in Monticello, so I kind of think his love affected Janie and I, too.

Later, when Steve was stationed at Fort Rucker in Alabama, Aaron, Brandy, and Heather, his and Debbie’s three children, came up to stay with us for a few weeks one summer. Eventually the time came for them to return with their parents to Alabama, and Aaron didn’t want to go. He became quite distraught when he realized it was time for his parents to come and take him back home. I sought to console him by asking him if he didn’t miss his home and his parents. He thought for some time and then answered, “Well, I guess I miss my dog,” and after some more thought, he said, “and maybe my dad.” Thinking of him saying that makes me laugh out loud yet today.

You would think that as time passed, his attachment to us would have grown less, but he always held a special love for Janie and me, and grandparents take all of the love they can get from their grandchildren. You can’t get too much of it, just ask any grandparent.

Aaron was always close by, so as time passed, we watched him and his girlfriends with interest, wondering which one would reel him in. A couple of times we thought he was a goner, but something always happened. His girl troubles reminded me of my own luck with girls, which wasn’t too good until I met Janie.

Anyway, Aaron met this young woman at Purdue where she was a waitress in the “Nine Irish Brothers Pub” in West Lafayette. We kept hearing more and more about her, as days went by, and Aaron admitted to Janie that every time he thought about her it made him smile. I told her it sounded like he was in love finally, and we were eager to meet her.

One afternoon, Aaron brought her to Steve’s house, and the moment I saw her and Aaron together, I guessed he loved someone else more that he did us, and I didn’t blame him at all. Ashley was pretty, and just seemed to fit in with all of us. She wasn’t bashful at all, and looked you right smack in the eye when she talked to you with a nice little smile that said, “I’m comfortable in this world, and with Aaron, and with you guys,” and that was the time we all sort of fell in love with Ashley.

Aaron is scheduled to attend flight school at Fort Rucker just as Steve did, so he was going to go to Alabama, and Ashley was going to Delaware to stay the summer with her sister before joining him there. That didn’t work out at all. After two days, Aaron flew to Delaware to get her and bring her back by mutual consent, so that was it. I guessed we were in for a wedding, and it wasn’t long before Janie and I were told they were getting married at our house so Janie could see the wedding while she is still with us. Yes, Aaron still had special feelings for his grandma, and I thought that was fine.

So, last Sunday, the 28th of June, Aaron and Ashley were married in our living room in front of the big fireplace. I must confess the tears ran down my cheeks because I kept seeing my Janie standing there pledging her love to me, and it was over 58 years ago that she did. But it was more than that. It was saying to Janie that she was still special to Aaron as she is to all of us. It made me very contended.

• Joe Bowyer is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com