January 8: In 1974, Sheila Spruill Barrick and I wanted separate bedrooms, so we moved to Creekwood Apartments on the Kinchafoonee Creek. Our building was just being finished when we moved into our townhouse. The first day we discovered the commode would not flush in the upstairs bathroom we shared. I tried priming it by pouring water in the back, but it would not fill with water on its own. The manager sent someone to see what was wrong, and we learned how to turn the water on with that knob behind the tank. Major trouble averted. We felt so That Girl living independently in the city. Then the stove wouldnt turn on. The manager must have thought it wasnt important to have everything readyfor two dumb girls, we thought. I studied the situation and discovered that it wasnt plugged in! Problem solved. . .until this loud alarming noise erupted when I stuck in the plug. Was it not wired properly? Is that why they didnt hook it up? I tried it again. We couldnt live like that, so I called the manager again, and insisted someone come right away. I was angry that they were trying to take advantage of us somehow. The maintenance man came immediately, walked across the kitchen, plugged in the stove, and I pointed with a smug, See? What is that? He turned off the buzzer to the timer. Now that he could hear me, he said innocently, Okay. Whats going on with the stove? I think I muttered, Nevermind. Meanwhile, since Edgar was determined to have the wedding in Albany, I was planning our wedding. I asked mom later if my doing it all on my own without her input bothered her. She said the phone bill at the time would have added tons to the cost and that she was relieved she didnt have all those decisions to make. I went through tons of magazines looking for THE dress. Edgar finally said, I dont know what the big deal is. No dress is going to make you beautiful. Well, THAT was a cold night until he convinced me that what he meant to say was that I was already beautiful and the dress just gilding the lily. Sometimes in life our happiness depends on what we choose to believe. My Girl Scout friend Dot Dowling acted in moms place with everything, but especially the dress. She went with me to Dothan, AL, across the Chattahoochee from Edgars Blakely to pick it out. We found the perfect one in August, but the best thing about it was the hat. I loved my Eliza Doolittle hat! It was ordered and taken care of early. Dot made my slip so the dress would stick out just enough. Then, when the shop didnt have my dress in February because he said I wouldnt have wanted to order it so early in case things didnt work out, I was looneytunes. I had nightmares about the hat for weeks until it came in the week of the wedding. And the nightmares were justified; it wasnt my hat. The night before the wedding, Dot and I sat up remaking it with taffeta and netting. Edgar and I couldnt agree on dishware patterns, either. He didnt really want to help, but he didnt want those frilly patterns I liked. One night he came over to my apartment with something behind his back. I found the perfect pattern, he said. It matches everything, wont break, and is dishwasher safe. He had bought a metal cartoon characters tray at Arbys. He showed me Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and the Tazmanian Devil. Isnt it perfect? he asked. Nina, Dots daughter, took me shopping for the trousseau. She helped me choose a going away outfit that was so stylish but classic that I wore it for years afterwards. I saw a gorgeous peignoir set, floor length and flowing, but it was just too expensive. Nina and I also went to Roses in downtown Albany where we laughed at a classless short lingerie outfit on display. That thing was red transparent fake chiffon with three holes rimmed with black lace strategically placed - one was the belly button. The bikini bottoms had a lace-trimmed opening, too. Nina joked that Edgar would love that since it was in UGA colors. Edgar moved into the Huntingdon apartment where our married life would begin. It had parquet floors in the kitchen and dining area. I stripped the wax and paste polished and buffed them before setting up our gift display on sheet-covered plywood on sawhorses. We had a covered dish rehearsal lunch in the Huntingdon party room the day of the wedding, and later folks left the wedding reception and came to the apartment. Edgars Aunt Wilma kept saying our wedding was very different - nice, but very different. Dots senior girl scout troop short-sheeted our bed, put Saran wrap over the master suite toilet, and whipped creamed the lid. When Edgar got away before his friends could throw him in the green water of the complexs pool, they chased him across the parquet floor with a spraying garden hose. They also did a real number with shaving cream on both of our cars parked outside. Everyone left around one in the morning. It took a while for Edgar to get to bed, and I fell asleep. I cried the next morning when I learned he had been cleaning off the cars, but not drying the parquet floor that I had labored over. It was the first clash of what is important we had. We took off for the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta. In our room, which was supposed to be a Honeymoon King Suite but had two double beds, I apologized for not having anything really special to wear for the official wedding night. He responded with, Well, maybe I can change that, as he pulled a beautifully wrapped box out of his suitcase. He explained that Nina and her sister Dona had given it to him, saying that they wanted to surprise me with the peignoir set I had loved but couldnt afford. He was proud that he had kept it hidden for months. There, folded demurely inside white tissue paper, was the tacky red and black outfit from Roses. We started our honeymoon with laughter which is never a bad omen.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 15:11:42 +0000
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