Sunday morning we went to my brother Josh’s house for a big family brunch. My parents came with 4 of my sister’s families & both of my brother’s families, our youngest sister lives in Arizona so we only have her family here a few times a year. Years ago we used to have monthly big family dinners but we rarely do that anymore. I’m not sure how it stopped but it just slowly faded away so we have been doing our best to start that tradition up again. After brunch me & my sisters packed up & headed to Indiana. We were going for 2 nights to help my Aunt De pack up & clean my Grandma’s apartment and there was one thing that I was on the lookout for, her wedding cake topper.
Paul and I met in 6th grade and dated all through high school. He proposed to me on Christmas Eve 1998 (our freshman year of college) and our plan was to get married in 2002 after college. But in April of 2000 we decided to just get married that summer. Everyone thought I was pregnant, I wasn’t, but you should have heard all the side comments and judgement. People are definitely opinionated and full of judgement, even if it’s well meaning. Looking back moving in together before marriage was never a conversation or even a thought. In our minds the next step was marriage and we were just ready to end the long distance relationship and start our life together. So in 3 months we planned our wedding and the date we picked was July 29th.
July 29, 1950 my grandparents got married and we wanted to get married on their special day. One because it perfectly fell on a Saturday but also because my grandpa had passed away the previous spring from lung cancer and we wanted to honor them and their 50yr anniversary. So I reached out to my Grandma to see how she felt about us getting married on her special day and she was thrilled. I asked her if she had anything we could use to pull in a keepsake of their wedding into ours and she said she still had their cake topper. Perfect!
On July 29th 2000 Paul & I said ‘I Do’ in front of all of our family & friends and on our cake was their cake topper. I really wanted to keep it as our own keepsake but Grandma wanted it back and I completely understood & respected that. Over the years I forgot about it but when she passed a few weeks ago and everyone started talking about what they wanted of hers to remember her by the first & only thing that came to my mind was her wedding cake topper.
Grandma’s apartment was small and while neat & tidy her closets were packed to the brim. When we first arrived it felt a little overwhelming at how much we had to do but we quickly got to work. My sisters & I are like a small army and efficiently made our way through her apartment. We started organizing & boxing up for both family treasures and goodwill. As we were working I was getting a little worried that she may have gotten rid of her cake topper when she downsized to her apartment but in then in final closet we found it along with her flower wreath, grandpa’s boutonniere, and their wedding cake knife.
So 20yrs later, right before Paul & I are about to celebrate our 20yr wedding anniversary, I was able to hold this beautiful wedding cake topper again. I am so thankful that we get to keep their memory & anniversary date going with each year that we celebrate ours.
I already talked with Hannah and we plan on keeping the wedding cake topper in our family for generations to come.
