Tag: Greenfield Village

Just An Ordinary Day

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© jb katke 

         Not so fast. May 21st is special to me. Until I told her, my granddaughter, Liz, had no idea.

            Long ago, in a faraway place, my fiancé and I set the above date to be married.  Only, with further thought, we decided we didn’t want to wait that long. We upped it to January.

We decided to get married at Greenfield Village, in the Martha Mary chapel Henry Ford had built for his mother. We were informed all of January was already booked.  We settled for a December wedding, which at the time was perfectly acceptable because it was sooner yet.

Alas! May 21st has remained in my heart all these years. It’s beyond explanation and irrational; I have no regret over the man I married. After all, we are talking a date, for goodness sake.

The year of COVID-19 we celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Thankfully for us, life went on. I am aware that was not the case for everyone. With the restrictions set world-wide, our celebration has been detained. 

With that in mind, I decided to ask Liz, to take some pictures of us in June. She has a budding business in photography and that would be fifty and a half years.

We learned of a May wedding for her extended family requesting she take a few pictures. Coming from Nebraska, we had the opportunity for her to pull an overnight at our house. With her camera.  

Pictures were taken of my husband and I…on May 21st!  Snapping away Liz was concerned about the lack of good lighting. Nevertheless, we did a bunch of poses and comical shots,

 Later, an upset Liz confirmed the pictures didn’t come out as we hoped. She didn’t know the full story. Fifty years ago, my folks hired a friend employed at a camera shop to take our wedding pictures.  It wasn’t until the day after he realized there was no film in the camera. It only seems right that this unfortunate occurrence happened again.

Best laid plans don’t always come to be, Our photo shoot was unplanned, just a fun and convenient opportunity. A coincidence? Not in my world. I don’t believe in it. Nothing under the sun just ‘happens.’ It’s all part of a plan, a divine one. We will have other opportunities, when the light is better.

My telling you this saga has an ulterior motive. I wish for you to know Jesus and what life can look like with his friendship.  I’m not saying it will always be a bed of roses, but he never disappoints and he gives endless opportunities. His friendship makes the difficult things bearable.  And sometimes, really good perks like an unexpected overnighter comes along.

Many Octobers Ago

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Fifty two Octobers ago I met my husband. It was a high school field trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. In the automotive section, some of the students climbed over the barriers to clamor about in the antique cars. Security was on us in no time.

Henry Ford Museum

“Ok, that’s it. You were warned. Consider your tour over, exit immediately.”

We were shoved out a side door into a cramped courtyard. Some guy and I were shoved through the door, his broad shoulders crushing me.

Getting To Know You

We struck up a conversation. Both of us bummed at leaving such a neat place. A date came soon after, that grew into going steady. I can’t recall what we talked about, but spent hours on the phone with each other.

Often I stayed after school as he worked on a drafting assignment. I learned he couldn’t doodle without a straight edge. In turn, he learned I considered my sewing class as recess to play.

During football season, we attended every game. Completely ignoring it, as we were wrapped up in each other. Grandma called it puppy love.

A Questionable Proposal

Our recollections of his proposal don’t agree. I say we were on the phone, he says in the car. I just hope it’s acceptable, now that our children are grown, with their own kids. Us being great grandparents is no time to learn it wasn’t legit.

Take note though, the proposal came after his purchasing a radial arm saw. That should have waved a red flag, had I not had stars in my eyes. Today we continue to support and encourage the interests of each other.

The Best Part

The best part is we still like each other. Not that life has always been peachy keen. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we never outgrew that puppy love. It was what glued us together. Both of us are convinced that God brought us together and carries us through wherever life takes us.

Commercial Break

If you are a history buff, consider traveling to this wonderful museum. Next door is Greenfield Village. Both are owned by the Ford Motor Co. and well worth the trip. Give yourself several days, both are huge and you don’t want to miss a thing.