It was getting close to December but not there yet. I'm not sure if it was the lure of using me as a tax deduction or if he still thought he was in love with me. I'd always thought it was more of an "in lust" with me, but I could be wrong. He wanted to get married. He arranged for it all and we went to apply for the license to get married by a Justice of the Peace who was not going to make us go through months of counseling. I even told him he did not have to feel like he had to marry me just because we had done the deed but he told me to shut up. Not the most romantic thing to tell your prospective bride but I did shut up for a couple of minutes.
It was all set. We had the paperwork and the blood tests. Do people even get blood tests anymore to get married? We got up that morning and got dressed. I was wearing the same green gown I'd worn before to a party Millie had given back home when Tom came to visit. It was full length and I looked pretty good in it. Before we could leave the apartment the phone rang. It was his CO and they were on alert. No wedding. I told him it didn't matter. He had to do what he had to do. I could see in his face that it mattered a lot to him.
That day November 4 1979 I would hear on the news about the Americans being held hostage in Iran.
So what happened with the guys at Fort Carson you might wonder? They took all their equipment out in the field, set it all up and then late that night they took it all back down and came home. It was enough to through us offline as far as our marriage went but it didn't stop it altogether.
In December we tried again and this time we succeeded. Just to be sure, Tom unplugged the phone. If they wanted him, they'd have to find him first. As it was he had to be to work 15 minutes after the ceremony so the groom wore cook whites and the bride wore green, not army green at least. Mary was my maid of honor and Tom had an army buddy, Larry, for best man. The best man made the wedding cake you see in these next photos. We didn't get to celebrate for a couple of more days. The judge's name was Spotswood Williams. I always found that funny.
The best man tried to dance with me but I said nope. I can't dance, don't ask me. They both thought I was a stick in the mud but I have never been able to dance much, not since my failed attempts at learning ballet in my younger years.