Flashback Friday

Oops; I skipped a decade last week!

April 1991:
This month was full of ups and downs. I was still job-hunting; my family had accepted D as a new chapter in our lives, and at the beginning of the month, the cat I adopted, Smokey, turned out to be expecting kittens, and startled me by going into labor while on my lap! Six hours later, there were four adorable kittens: Rosie, Tag, Gizmo, and Tiger. At the time, we thought we had two girls and two boys. I'll explain their names next month.

The very day our tax $$ arrived, I discovered I was also expecting. And since I'd deposited his money at the bank teller, he didn't have access to any cash. I was NOT about to break the news over hot dogs, and thankfully the Nobel Romans manager agreed to take a check when Olive Garden, Steak and Ale, and Chi-Chi's were immune to my pleas.

I was nervous, and thankfully, the man lit up like a Christmas tree. We finished dinner and went home.

The next day, we went ring-shopping. Knowing we were on a limited budget, I just could not, in good conscience, justify spending half his tax refund on myself, even though I'd fallen in love with the $500 engagement ring. I did agree to the $200 one we found at Kohl's. His proposal?

"Oh, I guess I'd better ask you formally....Will you marry me?"

"I might as well..."

Not very romantic, but we just passed the 20th anniversary of that day. The next hurdle was how to tell my parents! Fortunately, they handled the engagement part well; the other part, not so well. Mom organized the wedding overnight, and my sister arrived a week later to shop for our dresses and go out to eat.

By the time we finished, every restaurant had a wait time of over an hour. Wendy gave up and returned to Ball State; I took myself down to the steakhouse where a friend was the assistant manager and told him to buy me dinner; I was getting married the following week. Needless to say, I got the 'royal treatment' from him and his co-workers:)

Next Month: Celebrating 20 years of marriage and the Indy 500:)