Saturday, November 21, 2009

39 years ago

Remember when weddings were covered as stories in the newspaper? Printed in the Society section of the paper with a full-length photo of the bride. Maybe this is still done in some places, but I think for the most part this custom has gone by the wayside.

There was a small problem with this story about my wedding. Throughout the story, including in the headline, the groom was named as Roy Grant. I married Ray Grant. And there really is a Roy Grant—Ray's twin brother. It was funny and embarrassing and maybe a little bit horrifying to see that in print—not that there is a single thing wrong with Roy. He's a wonderful, lovely man, but he's my brother-in-law, not my husband. Oddly enough the story correctly identifies Roy Grant as the best man and twin brother of the groom.

My mother insisted that the Idaho State Journal reprint the story with Ray's name and they did. That's the version that is glued in my wedding album, but I found that my Mom had kept this one when I went through her things after she died.

Sometime around that same time there was another wedding story in the paper with a photo of a bride in a very large-skirted wedding gown. Printed directly on the opposite side of the page was a photo of a college wrestler ready for a bout. The hairy legs, tight little trunks, and laceup boots of the wrestler were clearly visible through the white skirt of the bride, even more so if you held the paper up to the light. The alignment was perfect and totally hilarious. That would have been worse than getting the groom's name wrong. I think people all over Pocatello had that one posted on their refrigerators for a long time—I know we did, until it disintegrated. I wish I had kept it.

We had a good anniversary—we took the MAX to downtown Portland and saw a movie and went to dinner. Then we came home and had a little champagne. Cheers! Here's to 39 more.

P.S. I can't not mention that headline, wrong name or right. "Teresa Ann Howard Becomes Mrs. Roy/Ray Grant"—?? This was 1970—things like this were becoming touchy subjects. I have never liked, nor have I ever used the name Mrs. Ray Grant. When I got married I became Teresa (or Terry) Howard Grant. (no Mrs., Ms., or Miss) And that is who I am.

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations on who you still are today.

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  2. I am even older and I have never been comforatable as Mrs Steve Congdon - just not me.

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  3. --snort-- to your last paragraph. The headline made me chuckle and the last graph made me laugh. And a full length photo -- well, mercy! Red and white was our color scheme too, although we waited until December.

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  4. Congrats on your anniversary!

    As for newspapers getting names wrong, when we first moved to Idaho (Orofino - gah!), my Dad had taken the job of Dworshak Dam Power Plant Superintendent. Apparently, it was a slow news day so there was an article about him. Well, my Dad's name was Carlyle Reuterskiold (rooter-sky-old) but he went by the name Rudy (short for that gargantuan last name). The newspaper listed him as "Rudolph Reuterskiold" assuming Rudy was short for Rudolph. We just snickered about that the other day! Again, that was in the 70's.

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  5. How coincidental, just Friday I fired an email to the ISU Alumni Asso. for sending magazines and other such items to Mr. & Mrs. William Preston. I pointed out that I was not Mrs. William Preston. Besides he did not go to ISU, I did. And, I think their practice is very provencial.

    Enough of my tirade. The best to both of you. The years have served you well.

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  6. What a lovely bride! But (outdated social conventions aside) obviously the newspaper thought she was more important than Mr Roy (or Ray) Grant anyway, because he isn't even in the picture!

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  7. What a hoot! Especially the other bride's transparent photo.

    Happy Anniversary! May there be many more celebrations.

    Sign me, Nellie Bass Durand. No Mrs. or Ms. for me either.

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  8. Happy Anniversary! and thanks for the giggles! I always told people that Mrs. Van Hoff was my MIL, not me. I love the photo of Sophia stringing beads. Reminded me of the "sewing" cards we used to do at that age. Have a great week.

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  9. What a lovely post. The Idaho State Journal did my 1966 wedding too. Pic looked just like yours.

    I've never thought of you as anyone but Terry or Teresa. The last name...just hangs on. My current last name reflects my daughter's and beloved husband's name. My first last name? Oh, yeah....whatever.

    Thank you for the great read, Mrs. Roy or Ray Grant.

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  10. We are so much alike. I knew it from our first introduction over Dansk Generation Blue/Brown Mist dishes.

    Happy anniversary!

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  11. I love the see-through newspaper story. Happy anniversary, again! You'll have to tell me what you thought of A Serious Man. I've heard mixed reviews, but I'm inclined to see everything the Coen Bros. do.

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  12. Too funny. I would loved to have seen the hairy legs under the wedding dress combo!

    Happy Anniversary. :-)

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  13. Thanks for the giggle.

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  14. Anonymous1:33 PM

    Happy belated anniversary to you and Ray. And many more! We are on our way home for Thanksgiving with a stop in SJ now. Look forward to walking again.
    Beth

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  15. A very Happy Anniversary to you and Ray. :)

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  16. Anonymous6:10 AM

    A belated congratulations (I'm woefully behind on blog reading, and they show up newest 1st in google reader...) and what a funny story!

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