I was the trailblazer for the Murphy cousins. The first to bring someone into the fourth generation. The first to get married. The first to get divorced, re-married, re-divorced…you get the picture. But my older cousin Lori was second. She got married less than a year after I did. Her husband-to-be Shane Davis already had a young son, Brandon, so Lori had an instant family. Of course, they later went on to have the second-greatgranchild as well, the adorable Abbey. I enjoyed Lori’s wedding a lot because there were so many aspects that reminded me of mine, particularly at the reception. In a way, it enabled me to re-live some of our special night from the previous June.
Lisa and I did get into one minor tiff though on this day, March 18, 2000, when she made us late and nearly miss the beginning of the wedding. I don’t remember how she made us late, only that we arrived just before the wedding party entered the church. We followed them in and grabbed a pew in the back, near Denise’s boyfriend Chris, who was sitting alone because he had been late too. Their relationship was on the decline at this point and it didn’t make things any better when he had to leave the reception early to meet up with some friends.
Lori gets ready for the big day
Diana puts the finishing touches on the lovely bride
Cathy, Lori, and Andi: Lori’s bridesmaid brigade
The men of the Davis wedding: Ben, Ian, Danny, and young Brandon
Lori and Shane’s wedding was held in the Miami Valley Unitarian Felloship in Oakwood. Lori’s sister Debby and her friend Andrea were bridesmaids while her older sister Cathy was the maid of honor. Shane had Lori’s brother Dan and his two brothers Benjamin and Ian as the groomsmen. Little Brandon was the best man. I had set the standard of having my Uncle Jim and Aunt Darlene perform a lovely acoustic number at our wedding service. In our case it was “We’ve Only Just Begun” by the Carpenters, but Lori had them perform “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof. Darlene’s kids also all played a role with Brittney as guest book attendant and Jacob and Zac as greeters.
Lori walked in by her parents as Chris, sitting alone, looks on
The kiss
Diana and Tom with the new young couple
Lori with Grandma and Grandpa Murphy
Darlene and Jim perform their famous duet
Grandpa aims bubbles at Shane’s eye
The reception really had the feel of our reception, too, as it was held at the Eagles Nest, the exact same place as mine and Lisa’s had been. Again, Jim acted as disc jockey, and I helped supply him with CD’s. The beer flowed, the dancing ensued, and everyone had a wonderful time. We had to be a bit reserved however as we would be leaving the next day for a trip to Myrtle Beach.
Tom dances with the former Ms. Claude
Dancey and Deb Dan
Cathy, Debby, and Denise nonchalantly boogie on down as Lisa and Briana squaredance
Bob and Mom with Denise and a crazed Briana in the background
Denise, flying solo by now
The previous wedding victims looking paler than ever
Today Lori and Shane are living in Virginia with Brandon and their two daughters Abbey and Elise, two of my favorite little cousins. We see them often as she regularly makes the trek to Ohio for visits and holidays. I had been hopeful that they would be moving back soon, but plans to do so were nixed for now. I do plan on dropping in on them while touring Virginia in August.
Next up: our Spring trip to Myrtle Beach…
I believe the song Jim & I sang together at your wedding was a Carpenter’s song, maybe “We’ve Only Just Begun”?
Darlene
July 24th, 2007