Meeting Dorothy

Day two in Santa Fe was just about as good as it gets. We had a date arranged with Dorothy, a retired school teacher and currently a museum docent at the Santa Fe History Museum. Dorothy and I had been corresponding for a few months, ever since I found out that she was a member of the First Baptist Church of Santa Fe when my parents got married there in 1946. My parents always liked to tell the story of how they didn't have time to plan a big wedding, so they booked the church and had their wedding immediately after the Sunday morning service on a sunny day in April. That morning at the close of the service, everyone was invited to stay for the wedding and reception that the ladies of the church had arranged. Now, I have heard that story again and again, and when I listened, I thought of it as a sweet experience, unique to my parents. But Dorothy said that after the war many people were far from home in that same situation and that the "after church" weddings were common. She recalled that the people of the church enjoyed making those occasions very special for the service men and women. Dorothy did not remember my parents, but when I told her the date, she said it was very likely that she was there at the wedding and that her mother had probably been one of the ladies who arranged the reception. And further, she told me, she had stayed a member of that church and had married there herself. Dorothy invited us as her guests to the museum tour that day and afterwards for a personalized tour of Santa Fe. The museum tour was fascinating, so fascinating that we went back to the museum the next day because there was so much to see. After the tour, we joined Dorothy for an informative drive through many historic areas of interest.

My parents coming out of the First Baptist Church after their wedding on 14 April 1946.

 

Dorothy had a picture of the inside of the old church which has long since been torn down. This is the front of the sanctuary, the exact place where my parents stood and said their vows. The picture was taken just a few years later.

 

Above is a photo of my parents standing by a tree on the church grounds after their wedding. Next is a picture of Dorothy and me standing by one of the few original trees that still remain on the site of the old church building.

Below is a close-up of Dorothy and me. Can you tell we hit it off?

       

This is the house at 314 McKenzie Street in Santa Fe where my mother lived with her parents before she and my dad were married. The house is just a few blocks from the center of old town Santa Fe so I am confident that I walked the very streets my parents and grandparents walked nearly 70 years ago.