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| Tuffy and Les Howard 2008 |
Now, I have to say, I NEVER in a million years would have dreamed that I would have gotten married on a motocross track...or ANY track of any kind, as I was growing up and dreaming of what my special day would be like. I say, and always have said, that things happen for a reason and this was no exception.
We were engaged for two years prior to our wedding. During that time we must have tried to set a date at least six times. And with each hope for our day to be realized, it got shot down by a race date that we needed the points for. You see, we BOTH raced motorcycles back then and we were both going for state titles at the time. We participated in all three required events for state points qualifying back then. Desert, Motocross and Flat Track racing. As you can imagine, this ate up alot of our weekends and we practiced each night after we got off work. So trying to squeeze in a wedding was quite the feat.
One day my hubby called me at my apartment and said, "Hey, do you have a calendar handy?" I told him I did. He said, "Good, I am coming over and we are picking a date. I don't care if there is a race or not". So I rushed to wash my face, get dressed and be ready for this all important meeting.
He knocked on the door, came in and we went month by month and looked at the race schedule with each hopeful date, thinking it might be "the one". Every time there was a race we HAD to be at. Out of frustration my husband says, "Ok, this is not working. I want you to just close your eyes, flip through all the pages, land on one and put your finger on a date." I looked at him like he was nuts and said, "Oohh k". Flip I did, put my finger on it I did...the date?...July 8th...significance?...my sisters birthday (her 16th no less!)...and races?...NOT ONE!!! What are the odds of that happening? See what I mean about everything happens for a reason? So the date was set...finally!!!
Ok, so I have never seen how a wedding goes off. I had no idea about what to do, how many of what to get or anything. My Mom came up from New Mexico to help but she had never had a "proper" wedding so even she had no idea what to do. There wasn't alot of "wedding planner" types back then. We were both from different religious backgrounds so that became an issue as well. We decided since we were both Christian, might as well pick a Christian preacher to marry us. Done.
Now, where to get married? I always wanted the little church, the white dress and the "you are so beautiful" look I would get from my husband as I walked down the aisle. My father-in-laws idea? Getting married on the motocross track in our racing gear since that is what we both loved to do. We thought he was joking....but NO...he was not. We thought it would be fun but I really couldn't see me wearing a beautiful white gown on the track either. I didn't want to give that up (more on that later).
So the site was picked, the preacher was set up, the date was solid...now, about how to walk down the aisle at the track...
My hubby and I chatted it over and decided I could only go down the aisle one way...on a motorcycle. But dirtbikes would really be messy. We agreed we should start our married life on the starting line of the track. But how would I get there. It hit us!!! My Dad!!!
In May of 1978 I had finally ordered my first real car that was all mine and no one else's. The day I got it and went to show my Dad, he had a surprise for me, as well. A brand new Harley Davidson street bike! It was awesome! That was it!! I would ask him to drive me down the aisle on his Harley. But would he do it?
As you can see in the wedding pics on my other post, my dad is driving me down the aisle on his Harley. When we asked him he thought we were joking. But when I told him I was serious and I truly wanted him to do that, he got a tear in his eyes, said he would love to do it and gave me a huge hug!. So we were set.
The wedding went off without a hitch. Many of our friends and family continued to roll into the reception at my in-laws home until 3am. My hubby and I gave out around midnight. lol...
Oh, did I mention that the catch to our doing the wedding on the track was that we would renew our vows later (in 5 years) and I would get the chapel and the dress? But one thing would be missing when we did renew our vows....my Dad. He was killed Labor Day weekend two months after he gave me away at my wedding. ©Leslie Howard 2010
I love this! I really enjoyed the 1978 wedding pictures! Can you believe seven years later WE met! I am really enjoying catching up on all that I missed! Keep on writing!
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