I had the pleasure of attending my son's second marriage to his wife of 25 years at the church they attend, as they renewed their wedding vows. It was a big surprise to Karen, as she had no idea he planned to do this. His best man was there as was Karen's maid of honor.
At the appropriate time, Greg asked everyone to go to the chapel and turned to Karen, held up a bread wrapper twisted into the shape of a ring and announced to one and all, "This is the original ring I gave to Karen when I first proposed".
This was my son who always seemed to be a real Red Neck, arguing about anything and everything, just to get his dad riled up. He was a real character. Somehow, he grew up and became a caring, loving individual, planning this charming ceremony for his wife.
Their first wedding was not as charming as this one, since he fainted while getting married the first time. We watched in horror as we saw his legs start to wobble and he turned deadly white. Just as I turned to tell my husband, "watch Greg, I think he's going to fall", down he went, out cold, and was carried off the altar while Karen looked on aghast. Ten minutes later, he was back and the wedding ceremony proceeded as usual.
You can imagine all the comments at his twenty-fifth exchange of vows. Being an old pro by now, he breezed through this one. I think everyone who has been married that long should have a "renewal of vows" party. I wish Ed and I had done the same thing, but we did have a fantastic twenty-fifth surprise party thrown by my kids.
