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Authors: Dorothea Benton Frank
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congregation. It’s not like I could have just used the Yellow Pages and made a reservation, right?”
“I know and I respect that but it just seems so odd to get married in your living room.”
“Mother? I’m going to tell you something I believe. Even though Daddy’s not here in the flesh, I really truly believe he’s here in spirit.”
“You sound like Millie.”
P l a n t a t i o n
4 5
“That’s fine. And, we’re getting married here because we are only having twenty people and because Richard really wanted a rabbi to perform the ceremony.”
“Great God! A rabbi?” She sank to the bed, shaking her head back and forth and looking at the floor. “I cannot, for the love of God, believe my ears! Do you mean to tell me that there is a Jewish minister here to perform this ceremony? Your father would spin in his grave!”
“I seriously doubt that. Listen to me, Mother, I don’t care where the ceremony is held because I believe God is everywhere.
Jesus said that when two or more were gathered in His name, that He was in our midst! Didn’t He?”
“He was referring to Himself and even I know that Jews don’t accept Christ.”
“Mother?” I was smiling now, trying to smooth her wrinkled brow. “God is God, is God. First person, second person, twentieth person, it doesn’t matter! Don’t you see that what does matter is I’m marrying the man I love and that he loves me and that we’re all here together?”
“I suppose so,” she said looking at me, almost agreeing. “You always did have an unorthodox view of the world, Caroline. You always did. And the older I get the less sure I am of anything.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. She just seemed a little lonely, I guess. The afternoon sun was pouring through my windows and the room was warm despite the February chill. I smiled again at her and just as I was about to tell her once more that I loved her, she snapped at me again.
“You’ve got lipstick on your teeth! Wipe it off !”
“I do?” Just as I looked back to the mirror, the door swung open and Frances Mae and Trip came in. I should say that Frances Mae’s swollen-with-life belly came first and that she followed minutes later, but that would be an exaggeration of fact. It just seemed that way. “Hi! How are you?” I said, as though she was my best friend, leaning forward to give her a hug.
4 6
D o r o t h e a B e n t o n F r a n k
“Don’t you look beautiful!” she said, clutching her hands to her chest. “Trip? Darlin’? Gimme a tissue! I can just feel the tears coming! Why do I always cry at weddings?”
“I don’t know, Frances Mae,” Mother said dryly, “why do you?” Mother rolled her eyes to the ceiling and then to Millie, who stood by Trip, witnessing Frances Mae’s performance.
“Well, Mother Wimbley, I suppose it’s just the innocence of the bride and the hope of the future. Although in this case, Caroline’s hardly an innocent child bride, are you, dear?”
“Frances Mae?” I said with a straight face. “See the chandelier over the bed?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, dabbing the corners of her eyes, laden with ninety-two coats of blue mascara.
I whispered now in her ear so only she and Millie could hear,
“At night? I press a button and it flips to reveal a trapeze.”
“It does?” she said, like the poster girl for blond jokes.
“Yep, but don’t tell Mother, okay?”
“Amazing! You can’t even see the seams!”
Trip handed me my bouquet, Millie smiled, and, by the time we all filed out, Frances Mae had neck strain and had eaten all the lipstick from her lower lip.
We stood assembled in the hall. Trip took Mother and then Frances Mae to their seats. Millie stayed back with me.
“What? You think I’m gonna run out the door?” I giggled to her quietly.
“No. Just making sure we don’t have no uninvited company, that’s all.”
“Like Lois?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Lois, Richard’s first wife, who up until yesterday
“I know and I respect that but it just seems so odd to get married in your living room.”
“Mother? I’m going to tell you something I believe. Even though Daddy’s not here in the flesh, I really truly believe he’s here in spirit.”
“You sound like Millie.”
P l a n t a t i o n
4 5
“That’s fine. And, we’re getting married here because we are only having twenty people and because Richard really wanted a rabbi to perform the ceremony.”
“Great God! A rabbi?” She sank to the bed, shaking her head back and forth and looking at the floor. “I cannot, for the love of God, believe my ears! Do you mean to tell me that there is a Jewish minister here to perform this ceremony? Your father would spin in his grave!”
“I seriously doubt that. Listen to me, Mother, I don’t care where the ceremony is held because I believe God is everywhere.
Jesus said that when two or more were gathered in His name, that He was in our midst! Didn’t He?”
“He was referring to Himself and even I know that Jews don’t accept Christ.”
“Mother?” I was smiling now, trying to smooth her wrinkled brow. “God is God, is God. First person, second person, twentieth person, it doesn’t matter! Don’t you see that what does matter is I’m marrying the man I love and that he loves me and that we’re all here together?”
“I suppose so,” she said looking at me, almost agreeing. “You always did have an unorthodox view of the world, Caroline. You always did. And the older I get the less sure I am of anything.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. She just seemed a little lonely, I guess. The afternoon sun was pouring through my windows and the room was warm despite the February chill. I smiled again at her and just as I was about to tell her once more that I loved her, she snapped at me again.
“You’ve got lipstick on your teeth! Wipe it off !”
“I do?” Just as I looked back to the mirror, the door swung open and Frances Mae and Trip came in. I should say that Frances Mae’s swollen-with-life belly came first and that she followed minutes later, but that would be an exaggeration of fact. It just seemed that way. “Hi! How are you?” I said, as though she was my best friend, leaning forward to give her a hug.
4 6
D o r o t h e a B e n t o n F r a n k
“Don’t you look beautiful!” she said, clutching her hands to her chest. “Trip? Darlin’? Gimme a tissue! I can just feel the tears coming! Why do I always cry at weddings?”
“I don’t know, Frances Mae,” Mother said dryly, “why do you?” Mother rolled her eyes to the ceiling and then to Millie, who stood by Trip, witnessing Frances Mae’s performance.
“Well, Mother Wimbley, I suppose it’s just the innocence of the bride and the hope of the future. Although in this case, Caroline’s hardly an innocent child bride, are you, dear?”
“Frances Mae?” I said with a straight face. “See the chandelier over the bed?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, dabbing the corners of her eyes, laden with ninety-two coats of blue mascara.
I whispered now in her ear so only she and Millie could hear,
“At night? I press a button and it flips to reveal a trapeze.”
“It does?” she said, like the poster girl for blond jokes.
“Yep, but don’t tell Mother, okay?”
“Amazing! You can’t even see the seams!”
Trip handed me my bouquet, Millie smiled, and, by the time we all filed out, Frances Mae had neck strain and had eaten all the lipstick from her lower lip.
We stood assembled in the hall. Trip took Mother and then Frances Mae to their seats. Millie stayed back with me.
“What? You think I’m gonna run out the door?” I giggled to her quietly.
“No. Just making sure we don’t have no uninvited company, that’s all.”
“Like Lois?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Lois, Richard’s first wife, who up until yesterday
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