Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away …
I got married.
In fact, it was 22 years ago today that photo was taken. I was all of 19 and Kim was a couple of weeks from turning 18, and just a few weeks removed from her high school graduation. Ah, I was so skinny back then. (I blame Kim for that change; if she wasn’t a good cook, I’d still be thin.) I was working part time carrying out groceries and cleaning floors at a Safeway store and Kim was working part time in Enid’s leading drug store. Hmm. I’ve since had careers as a machinist, journalist, public relations whore and now teacher. Kim is still working in a pharmacy. Which one of us has the stability?
Anyway, not many marriages last 22 years anymore, especially when they start with the participants being so young, so I guess we’ve accomplished something. It hasn’t always been easy going, but it’s been worth it. Happy anniversary, baby.
For any students reading this, I don’t recommend getting married so young. You don’t even really know who you are until your mid-20s. And marriage isn’t a constant sex party. Man, was I ever wrong about that one … haha
For the math impaired, they year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was still president, Guns-n-Roses had not yet recorded Appetite for Destruction and Stephen King was still writing good books. A gallon of gas cost about $1.20, while a postage stamp was just 20 cents. KISS was performing without the traditional makeup (I wish I could say without makeup, but it was the ’80s and even Gene Simmons was wearing blush), and I was just starting to think I might want to be a writer and was submitting really, really bad poetry to various places. Oh, and Enid’s Oliver Magnum was still together and touring. Good times.
Kim brought a 1970 Mustang to the marriage. It isn’t true that I married her for her car, but it was a check on the pro side. I had a 1976 Monte Carlo that she hated. Within a year, the Monte Carlo was gone, replaced by a Cutlass Supreme.
We got married in Kim’s parents’ back yard. It was hot. My one regret is that we didn’t have a professional photographer; Kim’s aunt had a new camera, so she took the wedding photos. Yeah, the one above is one of the best of the bunch; the aunt got mad about something and didn’t take a single photo at the reception. She’s an ex-aunt now. That’s my best friend David Crawford in the background; he was my best man.
For our honeymoon we went to Branson, Mo. Remember, we were working part time. We couldn’t afford a cruise or anything like that. We went to Silver Dollar City and Whitewater, where I got the worst sunburn of my life..
Oh, we’d been “dating” for about five years before getting married, since I was in 9th grade and Kim was in 8th grade.
Now you know more than you ever cared to know about my past.
Steven E. Wedel 
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