31st anniversary , the first of the four greatest days in my life. the others being the birth of my sons Joshua (March 6) and John (March 14) and Ordination Day.
Paula and I were married in Belgium, on this day . The evening before was busy, being assisted by fiends to set up for the reception at the newly built German Parish Center. The German Catholic Chaplain was most accommodating allowing us to be the first to use the facility. In Belgium the couple has to marry before the civil authority and then before the church's minister.
We had made our appointment and the mayor of the city of Mons was to officiate. Paula drove herself to the city hall. She was late! Because of the narrow streets of the town she got stuck behind a double parked car whose occupant went into a shop for a prolonged period.
When she finally arrived she looked beautiful with a crown of flowers in her hair.
Remembering that the Americans had liberated the town from the Nazis The mayor was most happy to marry "two American soldiers". In fact he gave a rousing oration about how wonderful it was that day when the Americans got rid of the #$%^!&^** German pigs. It was a little bit uncomfortable since Paula was once stationed in Germany and we had some of her German friends as guests. Fortunately he spoke in French and the Germans did not understand it.
After the brief civil ceremony there was a prolonged period of document signing by us, our witnesses, the mayor and some advocate.
We then went to the post chapel where our sacramental celebration was presided over by a Irish Catholic military chaplain, the vicar Fr. Mc Ghee. The celebration was held at the German Catholic Pastoral Catholic Center. The food and drink was catered by an Army cook. The music was dj'ed by my best man Bruce Becker. He went so far as to pick out "our song" for "our dance". Neither I nor paula had heard it before.
The reception went well except for the fact that now our Belgium friends were hesitant to enter a building constructed by Germans because of their war time memories.
In the end everyone got along- I assume since there were no shots fired!
As the reception came to a close, we left for a honeymoon weekend. We drive up to a seaside resort on the North Sea- its Francophone name was "Coq sur Mer" (literally rooster on the sea).
We had a great time but had to return to work the following Monday.
Its been a great 31 years and look forward to more. We have established a "partnership of the whole of life".
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