Mickey and Dale's Wedding

Amy was to be an honored guest at Mickey’s wedding.  It was an afternoon wedding, and Sheila was having a luncheon for the out-of-town relatives.  Sheila’s Aunt Rita and Uncle Frank Beluk were staying with us, and Rita was helping Sheila with the luncheon.    It was 11 a.m.  Amy was playing in her sandbox, and Sheila and Rita were preparing the luncheon; all appeared to be going well.  Amy appeared in the kitchen and complained that she didn’t feel well.  One glance and we were on our way to the hospital.  This was unlike the other situations; Amy was beet red and swollen, and every touch hurt.  As we headed for the garage, I heard Sheila tell Rita to cut the fruit like they do in BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS.  After we drove away, Rita said to Frank, “I don’t get BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS.”

In some ways, we were pros by now, and the Sewickley Bridge had been reopened.  In five minutes, we were at the hospital, and the two-shot routine was followed.  This time, there was no standby tracheotomy kit.  We thought, “Hey, maybe this one isn’t severe.”  It was diagnosed as an insect bite, and I was asked if I had the insect.  My response didn’t endear me to the staff or Sheila.  It had something to do with my thinking that I had better things to do.  I added a few frills to the statement.

The peace sign had been replaced by a little signal that Amy and I used; we would crack our index fingers as each pointed at the other.  It was silent for “I love you.”  When we went into the treatment room, she was lying there half asleep.  She gave me our sign, then fell asleep.

Meanwhile, back at the house (I always wanted to use that line), guests began arriving.  Dan arrived, as most of the out-of-towners were his relatives.  Upon being told of the situation, he reacted severely.  (This was a man who had run a field hospital in WWII, was a successful businessman, and was normally calm and cool.  The exception was when one of his grandchildren was sick or injured.)  Dan called Anne and said, “Amy is in the hospital; she might be paralyzed. Why aren’t you here?  Anne had a daughter to get ready for a wedding, and, as she had lent her car to an out-of-town relative, she had no transportation.  If she had, what could she have done?

Midway through the luncheon, Amy, Sheila, and I arrived home.  Amy was out from the reaction to the bite and the shots.  We took her to her room and let her sleep.  Sheila and I joined the party, and our attitude made everyone feel that things were OK with Amy.  After some time, Amy woke up, and Rita went up to read to her.  Dan went up to visit Amy, and she greeted him with, “You’ll have to leave, Papa. Rita’s reading to me.”  Rita says that day took her out of Dan’s will.

Back at the McCarthy house, Mickey had returned from the hairdressers.  She was greeted at the door by Anne, who said, “Amy’s sick and won’t be in the wedding. Go have a baloney sandwich.”  Mickey insisted on the full story regarding Amy, then went to the kitchen thinking, “I hate baloney.”  But, the situation being what it was, she thought it best to have the sandwich.

The luncheon at our house ended, and everyone left.  Dan, after a visit with Amy (he was warmly greeted), returned home.  Sheila decided to take her dress, as she was the matron of honor, and change at the McCarthy’s.  Frank Beluk was instructed to take my tux, as I was in the wedding party and a reader at the service, and fill in for me.  Amy and I would stay home.

The stories that developed at the McCarthy house were many.  Dale McLane, the groom, was called and told that Amy wouldn’t make the wedding.  He was called again to see if it was OK for Frank to sub for me.  He was called again to see if it was OK to change the reader.  When he was called a fourth time, it was by Anne. He responded, “Mrs. McCarthy, as long as it’s Mickey at the altar when I get there, I’ll be happy.”

The bridesmaids arrived to dress, and the florist delivered the flowers.  When they saw Amy’s corsage, everyone started to cry.  The photographer entered a house full of people crying, upset by the Amy situation, and Mickey was doubly upset because she had eaten baloney.

Frank was upset also.  He was sure that my tux would hang on him like a rag because I was so much larger than he was.  The tux fit him very well, and Rita suggested a diet.

Unaware of all this , I sat at home.  The doorbell rang.  It was Debbie Rende.  She had been Amy’s first babysitter, and it was planned that she attend the wedding and then return home to watch Amy.  In the fuss, we forgot to cancel.  I explained the situation and asked her to stay a while, as Amy had heard her come in and wanted her to stay.

Telephone calls reported the situation at the McCarthys and requested updates on Amy.  When Amy was up, I would call and say we were coming.  Then she would tire, and I’d call and say, “No way.”  Frank complained that he spent the whole afternoon changing from tux trousers to suit trousers and back.

A short time later, Debbie said Amy was awake again. (Was she throwing water on Amy?)  I checked, and she seemed OK, so I decided we should change it.  One last call was made to say that we were coming.

Our second car was a Volkswagen.  Dan did not like my owning it.  He had spent a significant part of his life in WWII, and his brother Jack had been lost over the Ploesti Oil Fields.  We compromised, and I never drove my family to his house in that car.  I felt this one time could be the exception.

Amy slept on the ride to the McCarthys.  She woke, was fed and dressed, and we all got to the church on time.

I think Mickey and Dale were there also.

Sam and my cousin Sue Stone and Dale's brother Craig at reception; Sam had had a lonag day