Our Wedding Picture
Eleven years ago today, a Saturday, Bill and I stood under an arch framed with flowers in my grandmother’s back yard and said our vows, not knowing that tragedy would strike in three short months. The following poem was written for our wedding by Rose Hill, a dear friend and Wyoming’s poet laureate from 2015-2016.
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Wedding Song for Abbie and Bill
Ring the bells! Dance and sing!
The band’s tuned up, the table spread.
The day of days is finally here.
Abbie and Bill are wed today.
From far and wide your friends are come
to offer gifts; advise the groom;
to eat and toast and kiss the bride,
to celebrate these solemn vows.
Beneath the gaiety and fun are prayers,
half-formed, heartfelt and deep,
that your love grows each passing year,
that you respect and cherish one another,
And as your love grows deeper, stronger,
your home becomes a peaceful haven,
a fort against the world’s demands
where you find joy together.
Ring the bells! Dance and sing!
We celebrate your love and marriage
and many anniversaries until
Abbie and Bill are wed fifty years today.
Rose Hill
***
Of course it’s not our fiftieth anniversary, and we’ll never make it that far, but we had seven mostly happy years together, and that’s cause for celebration. To read our story, check out My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds.
***
Author Abbie Johnson Taylor
How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
That’s Life: New and Selected Poems
My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds
Click to hear an audio trailer.
My Corner 
Thank you, Kathy, for the mention.
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