30 years ago...

Randy asked me to marry him on Valentine's Day. We had sung at a Valentine's Sweetheart Banquet, which btw, we have continued to do most every year since that night. Which is kinda cool. We can recreate the night and remember that moment. But at that particular banquet, when we looked at the program, they had listed the musical guests as Mr. & Mrs. Linda Larson. Umm, 1st of all- we weren't married, much less engaged and 2nd of all- if we had been married it should have read Mr & Mrs. Randy Thompson. I remember laughing my head off. Randy was most likely sweating buckets knowing that in a few hours he was going to pop the question. So after the banquet he drove me out to the end of the runway at Luke Air Force Base in his '69 Dodge Charger and while we watched fighter jets take off and land (those afterburners produce quite the light-show), he reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a box with my engagement ring inside, and asked me to marry him. I was shocked to say the least. Seriously, I had no idea! Of course I cried and said yes! But what made it extra special was that my sister Ginny and her husband were visiting from Wisconsin! I was able to share my excitement with her the next morning! We were engaged for six months. The first three of which I did absolutely nothing to plan my wedding. Nothing! Ok, we set the date. You see, I had never given a thought to my wedding day. I wasn't one of those girls that dreamed about her gown, a color scheme or veil or no veil. I thought about being married and to whom, not the actual wedding day. So at the 3 month mark, I met the wedding coordinator from the church we were using for the wedding. Janice had this charming southern accent, she was cute as a bug and man oh man, did she know her stuff. Within weeks, I had ordered my invites, the cake, the flowers and after trying on several gowns at Diamonds on Central, I bought the first one. I was in business. The cool part of this story is that I was the last wedding she coordinated before going pro. Right after my wedding she opened her dream bridal shop. *** The above pic was taken a few years after we were married, but it was the only one that was scanned and ready to post. I think it pretty much depicts what we kinda looked like on that eventful night, February 14, 1979. (minus Randy's beard)