She was 19. I was 21.

There was no internet, no YouTube back then.

We didn’t know how to throw a good wedding.

No band or disc jockey.

No dance.

No dinner.

We had a church wedding, reception in the fellowship hall.

I don’t remember any decorations.

Wendy got dressed in the choir room, surrounded by choir robes.

Come watch us get married. We’ve got cake.

I didn’t trust my friends.

They had kidnapped me the night before, snatched me, blindfolded me , drove around for awhile, and dropped me off, in the dark, on an empty lot, on a dark street.

It turned out, I was only one street away from my home.

I walked home.

But, my brother David and I hatched a plan to keep them from messing with my car on the wedding day.

We hid it at my grandmother’s house. He would drive Wendy and me over there after the wedding.

It worked. I think my friends felt betrayed.

But, that night, December 30, 1972, Wendy Gayle Wright put the rest of her life into my hands, our friends and families came to watch us get married.

And, afterward, everyone got cake.

We did it the best we could.

Wendy was way more mature at that age than I was.

But, in spite of all the stupid things I have done as I figured out how to grow up, one decision I made early on has made all the difference.

I married the one that I was supposed to marry.

She has taught me what love is.

Happy Anniversary to my true better half!

Wendy Gayle Wright Epps, I LOVE YOU!!!!