The Man You'll Marry

Dearest Friends,

It’s hard to believe I wrote these two stories for romance “bridal collections” back in the early 1990s. My daughter Jenny had recently become engaged and while I did research for her wedding I made copious notes regarding these stories. In the years since, Jenny and Kevin have given my husband, Wayne, and me three adorable, talented and highly entertaining grandchildren. As a bonus, their daughter Maddy just happens to have been born on my birthday. My daughter always did have a wonderful sense of timing.

I don’t remember how I came up with this romantic comedy idea of a supernatural wedding dress. What I
do
remember is that writing
The First Man You Meet
and
The Man You’ll Marry
brought back some hilarious memories of my own wedding to Wayne. It all started with the bachelor party. My father and brother took Wayne and his friends out for a night on the town and then in the wee hours of the morning they invaded the kitchen. My mother and several of my aunts had spent days preparing traditional German dishes for the wedding dinner. As you might have guessed, the members of the bachelor party arrived ravenous and my father ever so generously emptied the contents of two refrigerators. The men promptly devoured a good portion of what was intended for dinner that day. It took Mom years to forgive my dad for that one.

Then, the morning of the wedding, I discovered to my horror that my dress no longer fit. I’d given up eating lunch in order to save money and my lovely wedding dress hung on me like an oversized burlap bag. (I should be so lucky now!) Between them, my mother and aunts managed to adjust it with safety pins
so that it was presentable. I remember Mom circling me as my aunts fidgeted, mumbling in German with her hands over her mouth in horror. Later at the dinner—and yes, there was still plenty of food after some frantic grocery shopping and last-minute menu revisions—Wayne and I headed for a mountain resort where we were to spend our wedding night…only there was a girl tucked away in the trunk of the car! It was a joke that quickly brought us back to the reception—where everyone was waiting for our return. Oh, the memories…

I hope you’ll enjoy the story of Great-Aunt Milly’s infamous wedding dress and what happens when Shelly Hansen receives it, knowing the family legend that she’ll now marry the next man she meets. Then the dress goes off to Jill Morrison and the magic starts all over again. And if it so happens that reading these two stories stirs up a happy memory of your own wedding or someone else’s, all the better. Sit back, reminisce and enjoy!

Warmest regards,