Yippee! . . . Frenzy!

    We dated for five months and one night we were sitting on the verandah wall which ran around the front and one side of my parent's house. We were  just talking quietly until Mel suddenly said, "Will you marry me?" I immediately responded, "Of course I will!" and threw my arms around him. I ran into the house and informed everyone, "We're going to get married!!" There was no ring at this stage. Now let me introduce a little fact here. Mel lived at opposite side of the  town so we made a little arrangement. With our parents' permission we had arranged alternate weekends at the two parental homes. At our house Mel slept on a single bed which was situated in the entrance hall of our home  (my Dad often used that bed for his afternoon naps because it was out of the way of the general family movements in house). Our house-phone was situated on the wall above the bed. When it was my turn to stay with Mel's parents
she would make up the sofa-bed in the living room for me and it would be ready to welcome me when we got back from a date. If the weather was very cold she would warm up brick and wrap it in a towel and put it under the blankets just where my feet would rest (of course I would remove it before I got into bed).
    The week after the proposal was his turn to stay with us. Early in the morning the phone rang and Mel answered. As I came Down the stairs after getting up he was still on the phone and I heard him say,
"Wow! Thanks, Mom!" He even gave a little bounce on the bed. After work that morning when he came to pick me up to take me home he said, "I need to go home before we go to your house." No explanations as to the reason. When we arrived at his house we went inside, all was deathly quiet, "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse!" He took me into the sitting room, there a small tray was set with two cups of tea and two glasses of wine. I really was bemused. I had no idea. He sat me down on the couch, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square box and said. "Here." I took it and inside there was a lovely engagement ring. I squealed and said, "You're supposed to put it on me." With that his folks walked into the  sitting room, grinning all over their faces. Neither I nor Mel were earning big salaries, but Mel's Mom had seen an ad in the morning paper advertising a great sale at a local jeweler's. That was the cause of the phone call. The refreshment tray was set so Mel and I could drink the tea since we were not drinker- the wine was for his folk. When the excitement slowed down we went home to my house where I excitedly showed everyone my treasured ring. We, of course started making wedding plans. Mel wanted to wait till he turned 21 before the event, so we decided to be married on October 9, 1954, five months later.
    During those five months he taught me to drive -- had more angry words during that time than we've had than we've had in our entire married life of 55 years, (boy-friends or husbands should not teach their intendeds or wives to drive, in my humble opinion).
As the time drew nearer we started to think about where and what would be needed: who would we ask to marry us, (I suggested my Grandfather, to which Mel gave a vehement shake of his head as he was very, very long winded, "I don't want to be an old married man before the ceremony is over!") "Well, what about Henry?" "Yes, that's who we'll ask!" Henry Ewing was our local preacher who had had a lot of influence on Mel's spiritual life when we was a new Christian. Henry was delighted to approve and told us we were the couple he was most happy to marry, more than any he had ever married.
Now I had to decide about what to wear for my wedding. I could not afford a wedding gown so I decided to make myself a very nicely tailored dress. When I told my cousin Joan what I planned, she said, "We are the same size why don't you borrow mine?" She was married several years before. I tried it on and it fitted as if it were made for me." I was thrilled. Rona made herself a lovely green taffeta bridesmaid dress. So that was one worry off my shoulders.
    Now the frenzy set in.We had decided that Mel's Mom and I would do all the catering. My  mom worked full time and it was a relief to her to have this taken care of. Mom was a very down to earth sort of woman, and she saw things in an objective way. My parents were to pay for all the ingredients and Aunty Doris, Mel's Mom, set out with the myriad of plans. She was a superb cook and loved it, and she was going to make this a reception to be remembered. Poor Mel was pulled into the massive plans and was running around like a cat on a hot tin roof trying to do everything she ordered! One day, in despair, he said, "I am so tired, let's just go to the Regitrar's office and get this thing over!" I was seeing to making hundreds of cookies, and smaller delights while sandwiches were the one item which my Dad ordered from a caterers. The drinks were non-alcoholic and the toasts were to be made with non-alcoholic apple cider (which went down surprisingly well since there were several of the Sheasby's friends there also). Aunty Doris also made our beautiful wedding cake. Mel did agree to allow my Grandpa make one of the speeches, which was surprisingly short, but very sweet. The honeymoon comes later, without any attempts to embarrass us. It was quite an experience!