Thirty five years of marriage!

 

The photo above is from our "unofficial" wedding that took place on June 22, 1991 at the home of our friends David and Mollie Keller in Connecticut. We had planned to have it be official, with The Reverend William Ellsworth, father of our friend Kathy, officiating. Unfortunately, we found the process of getting a marriage license in Connecticut to be difficult, requiring us to take a day off from work to go and get a blood test, then to go up again to complete the paperwork. Fortunately, Martha remembered her former co-worker at the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, Johnnie Johnson, who had left DORIS to take over the marriage bureau at the Brooklyn Municipal Building. Her parting words to Martha were, "If you ever want to get married, you can come to me."

So we did, and with Mollie as our witness, we were joined in matrimony in accordance with the laws of New York on June 3, 1991. The three of us then celebrated with a fine meal at Henry's End. But we weren't to be denied our original plans so, on June 22, with relatives and friends assembled, we stood in the Kellers' back yard, next to a garden, where Reverend Bill pronounced us man and wife in the eyes of God. A few days after that we had a delayed reception at the loft apartment of our friend, now of blessed memory, Dorothy Wick.

Good luck has had a way of thwarting my plans to sabotage my life. It was luck that on my 44th birthday I chose to walk from my home in Brooklyn Heights to a housewarming party on Manhattan's Upper West Side hosted by my friend Jo Ann, a fellow lawyer and co-worker, and her husband, Gary, an artist. Both were from Savannah, Georgia, and merriment was fueled by a big bowl of Chatham Artillery Punch. Well warmed by this potent concoction, I noticed a woman across the room who had, if you'll forgive my use of a well worn phrase, a smile that lit up the room. I arranged an introduction, and told her she shared the name of my maternal grandmother. Our conversation survived this. 

It's now survived over thirty six years, thirty five of them in a matrimony that produced our daughter, Elizabeth Cordelia Scales, now the mother of our two granddaughters, Ada and Sigrid. Thank you, Martha, for putting up with a dreamy romantic who has a weakness for wine, whisky, and wondering; something for which your Irish heritage prepared you. You love the Beatles, as do I, so I'll close this with a song that expresses my love for you: