Mom and Dad's anniversary Party

When Mom made up her mind about something-well, that was exactly what it was--made up and you best not even THINK that you could change it. If you did not agree with her --it became her mission in life ,so to speak to convince you otherwise. She was very successful I can guarantee you!
One year she got to thinking about it being their 45th wedding anniversary and she wanted to have a party--a nice party-invite everyone--kinfolks,church friends,old friends etc. etc.So she mentions it to Bev and Cinda one day and Bev told her that she thought that you did all of that on the 40th- not the 45th--and Cinda tells her that we could throw a big 50th party for them--(Bev said she really thought that was a good idea as it would take us that long to address all of the invitations)--I thought that was priceless and we laughed & laughed as sisters will do when sharing our stories about things.
Mom was not to be swayed though, she tells us that she was afraid with her health being as it was that she would not live until the 5oth--WELL NOW, that put a whole different light on the subject!!! What kind of daughters would we be and how could we live with ourselves if that were to be true. SO we got busy planning a party but since Mom had already made out her list -addresses and all,even told us where the invitations could be purchased that she liked--she had purchased the material for her a new dress and picked out the week-end she wanted to have this shindig--heck, we were well on our way-- there wasn't a lot for us to do..Hardily!! We threw it into high gear though and divided up the responsibilities between us - our one intent was to make the party as pretty and nice as we possibly could in honor of the many years our sweet Mom and Dad had shared.
We shared many a smile listening to Mom say some of the things that she did as the big day approached--she was so cute about it- like a bride. You have got to remember that she didn't have a wedding as such- just got married at the justice of peace home. My mother-in-law loaned us her beautiful Irish lace cloth for the table and we used all of my silver to serve with--the other daughters took care of mailing everything, napkins and getting the flower arrangements and Mom's corsage. I had taken some cake decorating classes and decided that I wanted to do their cake instead of ordering one and that was exactly what I did- a 5 layers stacked cake with the column dividers and the precious cowboy and bride on top, trimmed with roses and scalloped border...a designer cake it was not but made with love it was..
The big day arrived and people were arriving from one end of the State to the other and Mom was having the time of her life--daddy on the other hand looked like he was at a funeral--said that he da@@ sure hoped that was the last of the anniversary parties! Just wasn't his thing but I think that he enjoyed it more than he let on.
My sisters and I shared alot of FAST work and many phone calls to put the celebration together in the short time that we had--but we pulled it all together and it was very pretty --especially the aging bride!! The aging groom wasn't too shabby either! We were very happy that we had shared in this blessing as Mom and Dad never had their 5oth--Daddy passed away after having shared 48 years of marriage with Mom.