Silver Dimes
From Stuff with
Stories
As the familiar music signaled the start of the
processional, Couple 14 quickly stepped to the back of the line. Families and
friends twisted in their seats as each pair triumphantly made their way down
the aisle. This was no ordinary wedding, and these were no ordinary couples.
For ten years, each couple celebrated their 25th
wedding anniversary with the other thirteen. On this night, 400 years of
marital bliss took center stage at Holmes Street United Methodist Church in
Huntsville, AL.
Huntsville had been a traditional, sleepy Southern town
until German scientists arrived after WWII to jump start the country’s space
program. Overnight, Huntsville became something of a metropolitan mix and
embraced its place in history.
Holmes Street’s Fellowship Sunday School class reflected
Huntsville’s new normal. It was an eclectic mix of several groups: church members
from childhood (my mother), those who moved to town after WWII to escape the
farm (my dad), and those with ties to Redstone Arsenal and NASA. Where they
started didn’t matter nearly as much as where they finished—as members of a Sunday
School class eagerly celebrating life.
I played the piano as my dear friend, Linda Bailey, beautifully
sang the customary wedding songs. We then took our seats to watch our parents
and their friends stand, once again, before God and renew their vows.
At the reception, my parents received the group’s usual gift
of twenty-five silver dimes arranged as 25 in a silver frame. This would become
a sweet and tender remembrance in later years.
When Tim and I celebrated our twenty fifth anniversary years
later, my dad framed 25 dimes from his silver coin collection. Mother died
years earlier, leaving Daddy to love her “Always”.
Today, Ted and Shelley are celebrating their 25th
anniversary. And what did Tim and I give them? Twenty-five silver dimes first
framed in 1972 and given to Couple 14 by their beloved friends.
July 23,
2019
