Today marks the 22nd anniversary for me and my husband, Rick. It’s been a wonderful, crazy ride and there’s no way I’d give any of those years back. As for planning the wedding, though? That part I really could have skipped.  

Thank goodness I had my mom. I had to lean on her a lot. You see, my life was so crazy. I had just graduated college and was looking for a job. All Mom had to worry about was her job, house, husband, two kids in college, one back at home (me) and a dog. Plus she wanted the wedding to be perfect and, with her help,I knew it would be.

She went everywhere with me -- dress shopping (duh!), photographers studios, reception halls. We made every decision together, except one: the menu for the reception. Mom was busy the night we had to choose, so Dad and I went alone. (Side note: If you’re wondering where Rick was during all this, he was one hour away finishing law school. He had no time to breathe, let alone help. Poor, lucky thing.)

 Back to the story: The night was fun. Dad and I chose French onion soup to start. For the main course we selected prime rib, a baked potato, as well as salad on the side. We chose the cake, too -- black forest, my favorite. The whole meal sounded absolutely yum! When Dad and I finished, we patted each other on the back. Job well done!

Then we came home and announced the menu to Mom. She smiled at us sweetly. “Are you sure about starting with French onion soup? It can be salty. It might ruin people’s palates.” Dad and I assured her that everything would be fine, plus the alternative to that was a fruit cup. We all knew how fast bananas browned. The fruit cup could end up pretty nasty.

And that was that, or so I thought as life continued on. I found a job close to Rick and an apartment. That moved me one hour away from planning headquarters. And chaos.

One Saturday, Mom and Dad came up to visit so we could find my bridesmaids’ dresses. After we accomplished our mission, we decided to have lunch at Big Boy’s restaurant. We had a nice time sitting there, our mouths full of burger, though Mom did seem a little off. After we finished eating, she turned to Dad and said, “Could you leave us alone for a minute?” Dad obliged, leaving the table. Mom and I remained. What was going on?
                          
“Janene,” she said, a slight tremble in her voice. “I know you’ve been very busy. But I’ve been busy, too, and all this wedding planning? Though fun, it has been quite a strain. I’ll be honest, I think I’m starting to lose it.”

“I’m so sorry!” I said, and I was. “I didn’t realize, Mom. Tell me, what can I do?”

Her eyes grew wet as she grabbed my hand and gave it a fierce squeeze. Then a tear rolled down her cheek as she said, “Damn it, I WANT THE FRUIT CUP!”

For a moment I just sat there, shocked. The fruit cup? Then I couldn’t help but laugh. She couldn’t help but laugh, too. It was just so funny. Mom hadn’t started to lose it. She’d lost it. I couldn’t blame her, though. She’d been working so hard with everything going on.. Right then and there I decided if she wanted a fruit cup, so it would be.

When the wedding finally came and the fruit cups were served, were the bananas were brown? Yep.  But I didn’t care. My mom was happy and that made me happy, too.

It was an awesome wedding. :)

Photo credit: My wedding photos were taken by Ebert Photography (used to be Photography by Ebert) in Oak Park, Illinois. They're still in business and they are fantastic. Check them out by clicking here.