Six redheaded preacher’s kids peered from the balcony of the Lutheran Church in Livingston. Their eyes were fixed on the bride and groom as the preacher said, “You may kiss the bride,” and then the newlyweds walked back down the aisle and down the steps of the church.
Guests had already gathered for a celebration at the Knapp home on Tin Can Hill. After a meal was shared, and congratulations and well wishes were given, the couple returned to Livingston. There were no rooms available at any of the motels and hotels.
On a side street, a brightly lettered sign at the bottom of a flight of stairs read, “Rooms.” They enter through the door and were met by a matronly lady. She said,“There is one room left,” to which the groom said, “We’ll take it.” The landlady led them down the narrow hallway to the room, and opened the door. Someone had beat them to the room and was sleeping in the single bed, and it wasn’t Goldilocks. It was a drunk who had found the last bed in town before the paying guests arrived. The lady ran him out, changed the sheets, and left the honeymooners in peace. They locked the door just in case the drunk man returned.
When morning broke, the young couple was off to Yellowstone National Park for their honeymoon. Alas, once again there were no rooms to be found. They made their bed on the ground that night.
It’s a good thing the uncles weren’t around, or they might have made it a family affair. It was reminiscent of the honeymoon of Uncle Ed and his bride when the family joined the after-wedding-party. Had Uncle Ed been there, he might have put fish heads under their blankets in hopes of enticing a bear just like he did to Jess and Julia forty-one years earlier.
After their short honeymoon, the bride and groom made their way to their first home together – a little log cabin twelve feet square. The tiny honeymoon house was furnished with a bed, flat-topped stove, table, two chairs, a cupboard made of wooden apple boxes, chest of drawers, and a washstand.
Nowadays many couples put more emphasis on a fairy tale wedding with little thought to the marriage that follows. Though the wedding of the newlyweds in this story was not an elaborate one, their marriage lasted until they were parted at death. They put each other first and made a life and family together. The sight of the six redheaded kids in the balcony that July day may have been a premonition of things to come for the couple did indeed have six kids, but they weren’t redheaded.
