What can you do with broken principles.......the answer to that is pick up the pieces and know that you made a choice.
We lay there in the grass.....breathless and fulfilled. I tried to put my clothes back into some sort of order.......then it suddenly dawned on me that we could have been seen.......oh, my great goodnight.
I turned to D*** and said 'Do you realise that you will be marrying a fallen woman....?' He smiled and said 'She only fell because I pushed her'
He snuggled close to me and whispered in my ear 'I love you Mrs Pilkington'
I said 'I'm not Mrs Pilkington yet' He said 'you are are as far as I'm concerned'
That made me smile......Oh......God, I loved that man.
I honestly can't remember the walk home......I think I must have floated on the breeze.
After our weekend I had to go back to my parents house......things were still bleak between me and my mum. I had brought home the paperwork for her to sign so that we could marry on the 3rd of October.
I had asked my eldest brother to stand as one of the witnesses.......and D*** had asked his sister-in-law.
I went off to Manchester and chose a suit.......oatmeal wool, with a slim skirt. A brown lace blouse, brown shoes and a brown hat made up my ensemble......it sounds drab and dull but it really looked smart together.
The wedding ring was bought and in D***'s mothers jewellery box for safe keeping.
As the day drew nearer I had to remind my mum to sign the papers.....every day I would go home and find them still unsigned
In the end I had to say 'Look if you want to ruin my life..... then don't sign the bloody papers......but if you don't sign them today we can't get married on the date we have chosen'
She looked at me with total disdain and carried on with what she was doing.......I was distraught. I know there had not been a lot of planning, but what had been done looked like it was going down the gurgler.
I had asked my mum and dad if they would come and see us get married........ but they didn't want to come......I have to admit I felt very hurt by their seeming lack of interest in what was to be an important event for me. Now how could I have had the fairytale dream wedding with parents like this?????
It wasn't as if it was costing them a single penny.
I told D*** how hurt I felt.......he said that he would never let me be hurt in that way again.
I went upstairs and spent some time in my room........when I came down again the papers were folded and I looked.......there it was the signature that I needed to change my life.
I could only have two days off work......I had already had my holidays.... but I figured that as we were skint anyway it didn't really matter.
The Friday that I was to finish work I walked into the canteen at break time and there was a wonderful buffet laid out on the tables......sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls cheesy things on sticks......and in the middle of the table was a single tier of Wedding cake........all my work mates had congregated in the canteen to wish me well in my new life...... the wedding cake had been provided by the woman whose daughter had got married the previous Saturday......she had made the extra tier when she found out that we were doing everything on a shoe string.......I was overcome. The Manager of the factory opened a bottle of Champagne (well, I think it was actually sparkling wine... but who cares) and presented me with a glass.
It was so unexpected. What was even more unexpected was being given a cheque for £25 as a wedding gift...... that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but it was to us.
We tucked into the food and people kept coming up to me to wish me well......when the little impromtu party was over I went back to my alley and there was a pile of wedding presents from each individual weaver.
I was touched by their kindness and generosity. My boss came and loaded all the gifts into his car and he took me home.....I even got paid for a full shift though I didn't work it.
Over the weekend I went and ordered some buttonholes....well, we had to have some kind of link with tradition......I would pick them up first thing on the Monday morning.
I can't really remember much about the weekend before the wedding......I think it passed in a blur.
I do remember leaving my parents house on the Monday morning without so much as a backwards glance and hearing my dad muttering something like 'I'll give it 6 months.....and she'll be back'
I walked into Accrington in my finery......picked the flowers up from Andy's Florists and got on the bus to Clayton.
We were all travelling up to Haslingden in the same taxi......I know, I know.... it is supposed to be bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding......but hey we were about to buck a trend.
My brother got to the register office on his motorbike.
We got to the Register Office......what a bleak place..... it was a miserable day too......raining cats and dogs......D***'s mum lent me a cream umbrella to use as we got out of the taxi.
We went inside and there.......waiting for us was every weaver from my shift.
We all went into the dimly lit room and sat down for just a couple of minutes.......the registrar said the words over us......and that was it.
Finally, we were truly man and wife. The assembled company cheered.....there were people coming forward and kissing and congratulating us......someone filled my umbrella with confetti so that when I walked outside and put the brolly up, it cascaded over both of us.
My smile was so wide and so bright.
There were no photographs.......no-one had thought to bring a camera.
Everyone slowly dispersed......after all the weavers had to get back for their 2 o clock shift.
In the taxi back to D***'s house, he said he was starving.
When we got back home we had cheese butties, Battenburg Cake and a bottle of sparkling wine that someone had given us
D*** took me to meet one of his Aunties and we spent the afternoon with her.
In the evening we just went out for a drink to the Hare and Hounds.....I think that D*** had tipped his Mum the wink to stay out of the house for a bit to give us time on our own.
This time our passion could be unrestrained and legal......I was really looking forward to waking up next to the man of my dreams.
That's it folks.......I hope you enjoyed it!
I would like to put THE END.... but in truth it was just the beginning!
We lay there in the grass.....breathless and fulfilled. I tried to put my clothes back into some sort of order.......then it suddenly dawned on me that we could have been seen.......oh, my great goodnight.
I turned to D*** and said 'Do you realise that you will be marrying a fallen woman....?' He smiled and said 'She only fell because I pushed her'
He snuggled close to me and whispered in my ear 'I love you Mrs Pilkington'
I said 'I'm not Mrs Pilkington yet' He said 'you are are as far as I'm concerned'
That made me smile......Oh......God, I loved that man.
I honestly can't remember the walk home......I think I must have floated on the breeze.
After our weekend I had to go back to my parents house......things were still bleak between me and my mum. I had brought home the paperwork for her to sign so that we could marry on the 3rd of October.
I had asked my eldest brother to stand as one of the witnesses.......and D*** had asked his sister-in-law.
I went off to Manchester and chose a suit.......oatmeal wool, with a slim skirt. A brown lace blouse, brown shoes and a brown hat made up my ensemble......it sounds drab and dull but it really looked smart together.
The wedding ring was bought and in D***'s mothers jewellery box for safe keeping.
As the day drew nearer I had to remind my mum to sign the papers.....every day I would go home and find them still unsigned
In the end I had to say 'Look if you want to ruin my life..... then don't sign the bloody papers......but if you don't sign them today we can't get married on the date we have chosen'
She looked at me with total disdain and carried on with what she was doing.......I was distraught. I know there had not been a lot of planning, but what had been done looked like it was going down the gurgler.
I had asked my mum and dad if they would come and see us get married........ but they didn't want to come......I have to admit I felt very hurt by their seeming lack of interest in what was to be an important event for me. Now how could I have had the fairytale dream wedding with parents like this?????
It wasn't as if it was costing them a single penny.
I told D*** how hurt I felt.......he said that he would never let me be hurt in that way again.
I went upstairs and spent some time in my room........when I came down again the papers were folded and I looked.......there it was the signature that I needed to change my life.
I could only have two days off work......I had already had my holidays.... but I figured that as we were skint anyway it didn't really matter.
The Friday that I was to finish work I walked into the canteen at break time and there was a wonderful buffet laid out on the tables......sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls cheesy things on sticks......and in the middle of the table was a single tier of Wedding cake........all my work mates had congregated in the canteen to wish me well in my new life...... the wedding cake had been provided by the woman whose daughter had got married the previous Saturday......she had made the extra tier when she found out that we were doing everything on a shoe string.......I was overcome. The Manager of the factory opened a bottle of Champagne (well, I think it was actually sparkling wine... but who cares) and presented me with a glass.
It was so unexpected. What was even more unexpected was being given a cheque for £25 as a wedding gift...... that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but it was to us.
We tucked into the food and people kept coming up to me to wish me well......when the little impromtu party was over I went back to my alley and there was a pile of wedding presents from each individual weaver.
I was touched by their kindness and generosity. My boss came and loaded all the gifts into his car and he took me home.....I even got paid for a full shift though I didn't work it.
Over the weekend I went and ordered some buttonholes....well, we had to have some kind of link with tradition......I would pick them up first thing on the Monday morning.
I can't really remember much about the weekend before the wedding......I think it passed in a blur.
I do remember leaving my parents house on the Monday morning without so much as a backwards glance and hearing my dad muttering something like 'I'll give it 6 months.....and she'll be back'
I walked into Accrington in my finery......picked the flowers up from Andy's Florists and got on the bus to Clayton.
We were all travelling up to Haslingden in the same taxi......I know, I know.... it is supposed to be bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding......but hey we were about to buck a trend.
My brother got to the register office on his motorbike.
We got to the Register Office......what a bleak place..... it was a miserable day too......raining cats and dogs......D***'s mum lent me a cream umbrella to use as we got out of the taxi.
We went inside and there.......waiting for us was every weaver from my shift.
We all went into the dimly lit room and sat down for just a couple of minutes.......the registrar said the words over us......and that was it.
Finally, we were truly man and wife. The assembled company cheered.....there were people coming forward and kissing and congratulating us......someone filled my umbrella with confetti so that when I walked outside and put the brolly up, it cascaded over both of us.
My smile was so wide and so bright.
There were no photographs.......no-one had thought to bring a camera.
Everyone slowly dispersed......after all the weavers had to get back for their 2 o clock shift.
In the taxi back to D***'s house, he said he was starving.
When we got back home we had cheese butties, Battenburg Cake and a bottle of sparkling wine that someone had given us
D*** took me to meet one of his Aunties and we spent the afternoon with her.
In the evening we just went out for a drink to the Hare and Hounds.....I think that D*** had tipped his Mum the wink to stay out of the house for a bit to give us time on our own.
This time our passion could be unrestrained and legal......I was really looking forward to waking up next to the man of my dreams.
That's it folks.......I hope you enjoyed it!
I would like to put THE END.... but in truth it was just the beginning!
