May 10, 1970, thru June 7, 1970
OUR WEDDING SONG
“MORE” By Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme
This section of our story will cover the time beginning on May 10, 1970, and continue through June 7, 1970. That will be the three weeks before we got married until one week after we got married.
The Days Leading Up To My Departure
On Sunday, May 10, 1970, I was returning from my parent’s home whom, I had gone to visit that morning. It was about 30 miles away from where I was living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The grocery stores had just started opening on Sundays during the spring of that year. I worked at a store called Cooper-Martin which was a regional chain in Tennessee. I had worked there before I went into the service and after getting out they gave me a position in Murfreesboro where Middle Tennessee State University was located so I could attend the university. During that time, the stores could not open until the churches had let out from their morning services. We were opening at 1:00 PM. At about 12:15, I was about a mile and a half from the store when my Volkswagen quit on me with a terrible noise. Since we did not have cell phones back then I walked to the grocery store and using their phone made a call to a wrecker service to pick it up and take it to a local repair shop. I had no idea what was wrong but I was very worried because that car was going to take me to New York for our wedding. The business was slow on Sundays back then as most people felt you should not be doing grocery shopping on Sundays. With business being so slow, I know I worried all afternoon and even into the evening when I got home. What was wrong? How much was it going to cost to get fixed? As I was short on money, I was extremely worried. The next day, the repair shop called and said I had thrown a rod and what it would cost to fix it. Luckily, I was able to scrape together enough money to pay them to fix it. It took several days, and in the meantime, I walked back and forth to work as I only lived about a mile from the grocery store.
By the end of the week, the Volkswagen was fixed and returned to me. In about 7 days, I would be leaving for New York on May 22. I was extremely nervous about driving all the way from Tennessee to New York in a car that had just been repaired and I did not have much faith in it. Luckily everything seemed to be ok the last few days before I left and I started gaining more confidence in the car. I needed that confidence as the trip was going to be about 950 miles and about 20 hours in a Volkswagen that would not go too fast.
The manager of the grocery store was always nice to me, so that week he arranged my schedule so that Saturday was my day off and I got off at 5 pm on Friday. That was a big help as I could get a day earlier to start my trip. The whole week was filled with excitement and anxiety mostly anxiety as I was hoping nothing else would go wrong with the car.
While I was working that last week before I left, I am sure Connie was having a good time as graduation was coming up on Sunday, May 24 and her exams were over. I do not know much about what she did that week but knowing Connie I am sure she had a good time and enjoyed that last week with her college friends. Some of them were in the wedding and several of them attended the wedding. I can remember some of their names but not all.
Departing For The Wedding & The Trip
I returned to the house, I was renting that Friday, May 22nd, and tried to get some rest as I was planning on leaving about midnight. No matter how much I tried, I could not get any sleep but did lay down and rest. Finally, at about 11:30 pm I decided to leave, so around 11:45 I pulled out and headed north. Back then we did not have all the interstates that we do now. I decided I would take the back roads through Kentucky to Cincinnati OH and then get on the interstate. I still did not have much confidence in the car so during the night I took it pretty slow and going thorugh all those small towns and not knowing the roads, I probably never got above 50. MapQuest shows going the route I took should take about 5 hours. but it took me close to 7 hours as I arrived in Cincinnati at about 6:30 am Saturday. Even after driving all night, I was so excited about getting to where I was going and so young I did not even feel tired. I kept going to until around 6 pm that night and stopped at a little motel about 100 miles from the New Jersey border.
The next morning, I left about 8 am and arrived at Connie’s sister and brothers-in-law around noon. I spent the day with them in New Jersey as Connie’s brother had driven her mother up to St. Joseph’s College in Maine for her graduation. Yes, Connie graduated on May 24th. Here are some pictures of her graduation. I know she had fun that day just from looking at how happy she was in the pictures.
GRADUATION DAY — SUNDAY MAY 24, 1970
The following two pictures are of Connie having lunch before graduation. Seated with her at the table is her good friend Denise who graduated the year after Connie. In the other picture, she is in line for graduation.
Connie’s Diploma
After the ceremony. The first picture is of Connie and her best friend Michelle, and the second is a picture of Connie, Michelle, and Denise.
I am sure I have a picture of Connie and her Mother on graduation day but for right now I can not seem to locate it.
The Week Of The Wedding
The rest of the week was a blur. I have no recollection of what we did on Monday and Tuesday but I do remember that Wednesday we went to get our marriage license. I remember we had both had our blood work done earlier and sent in. I was so happy and thrilled. As most of you who know me, know that I tend to talk a lot. I was talking so much that day and Connie went so quiet. I think she was thinking oh my goodness what am I about to do but later she told me she just wanted me to be quiet and was thinking oh my goodness Sparkie will talk my head off for the rest of my life. Anyway here is a picture of us that I think was taken on that day. I remember it so well.
Again Thursday, I have no recollection of but Friday, I took the Volkswagen in early to have it all checked out before we were going to leave on Sunday. That afternoon, Connie and I went shopping and I bought a gift for all the guys in the wedding party. That evening we had a rehearsal for the wedding.
The Wedding
Saturday, May 30th, 1970 — Wedding Day
Our Wedding Day
This is Our Day we vowed our love
In front of friends and God above
We will look back in future years
To those who came from far and near
Remembering each as we reminisce
Being so grateful you were in our midst
May God bless you, this we do pray
As he has us — — — —
On our Wedding Day
The Wedding Invitation
Mrs. Lawrence O’Neill
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Constance Mary
to
Joel Glen Buntley
on Saturday the thirtieth of May
Nineteen Hundred and Seventy
at three o’clock
Saint Helena Church
Benedict Avenue
Parkchester, New York
Then Saturday came the day of the wedding. The wedding was not until three in the afternoon but I was ready by eleven. It seemed like three o’clock would never get here and I think I was at the church by two and was standing and waiting for Connie by two forty-five. But three comes and there is no Connie, five minutes after three no Connie, now I am starting to get a little concerned but not much. Ten minutes after three, no Connie, now I am concerned, 15 minutes after three no Connie, now I have all kinds of thoughts going through my head and could see the eyes of all the people attending the wedding staring at me. Oh, my goodness, what if she backed out but then only a minute later she was there in the back of the church. Talk about being relieved boy was I relieved. Anyway, it turns out they were having trouble with her veil.
I remember how beautiful she looked walking down the aisle and thanking the good Lord for her. I can still see her walking down that aisle and it still brings tears to my eyes. Realizing not only was she beautiful but how blessed I was that she chose me. Her she was a recent college graduate marrying a hick from Tennessee whose job was working in a grocery store, while I know she could have done so much better.
All I remember is being very loud in my responses of “I do’s” while Connie’s were very softly spoken. Oh, what a blessing the good Lord gave to me that day. A blessing that I will always be thankful for and a blessing that brought me so much joy. Just a quick note, we had a different priest marry us than was supposed to. I cannot remember what happened, but I know Connie knew why.
St. Helena’s Catholic Church
I found this picture of St. Helena’s Catholic church. It was her neighborhood church. The church was started in 1940 and Connie spent her formative years at this parish. This is the church where we were married.
After the wedding, we went to a park near where Connie lived to take some pictures of us and the wedding party. After that, we went to a studio to have more pictures taken. We then went to the reception at “The Coach and Four West Steak House’ where we stayed until almost midnight. The food, the music, and the stuffing of cake in each other mouths were so memorable. What a wonderful wedding I thought we had. Connie pulled it all off by herself. Connie had booked us a room at an airport near LaGuardia airport as a lot of the wedding guests were flying home the next day. We took someone back to Connie’s mother’s place and I cannot remember whom.
Reception
following the ceremony
The Coach and Four West Steak House
502 South Broadway
Yonkers, New York
The night is filled with happiness
And joy is ours to share
With all our friends and relatives
Who came to show they care
The prayer we carry in our hearts
Of love and faith and peace
We give to you with hope
That these will never cease
We thank you friends, and neighbors
And relatives so dear
For your congratulations
And for your presence here
The memory of these happy hours
You have shared with us today
Will linger throughout the years
And ever stay with us
Connie & Sparkie
We arrived at the hotel that Connie had booked. It was a nice room with a spa in it. Connie went to change and came out in a *************, the rest of the night ******************* ******* ********** ****** ******************************************** ************** ********* *** ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************.
I am sure you guys would have enjoyed what I wrote but it was censored. Sorry (HA HA).
The First Week
The next morning, we got up early and arrived at LaGuardia airport around 9:30 to see our first guest off. We spent some time going to different sections and after seeing our last guest off around noon we returned to Connie’s mother where we spent the rest of the afternoon with her family before leaving around 6:00 PM to head to Virginia Beach for our honeymoon. The goodbyes took a while, but we were finally on our way. Things were going smoothly until a little after 11 PM when suddenly something seemed to be wrong with the car. I remember how lucky we were as we were able to get off the interstate and right there was a gas station with a garage and it was open. I pulled in and the guy was very kind and took a quick look and said your fan belt broke. He said I do not think I have one but can get one in the morning but let me check. Guess what we were so lucky he had one and we were back on the road in about 30 minutes. I was so mad at the place that I had checked out my car on Friday. We did not go much further and stopped at a Howard Johnson around midnight to check in for the night.
I remember we were both exhausted after the wedding and all that was going on. We got up around ten that morning and had breakfast at Howard Johnson before we continued our trip to Virginia Beach. The trip was uneventful except for our chatter about the life we were going to have together. Around four that afternoon, we went through the Chesapeake Bay tunnel and that was an experience.
We stayed at a place right in Virginia Beach called the Royal Clipper. It was brand new and a great place to stay as it was right on the beach. We could just walk out our door and be on the beach. That night we had dinner with my brother. Tuesday was a day of relaxing, enjoying the beach, and going into the water. It was a wonderful day. On Wednesday we went sightseeing and just enjoyed the area. That night we met my brother for pizza at a place that I no longer believe is around. There were a lot of them back in the 70s. The name of the chain was “Shakey’s Pizza”.
The next day Thursday, all I will say is we spent part of the day resting as we were going to leave the next day for Tennessee. That night we went to a place on the beach that had amusement-type rides and games. I seem to be a big hangout for the young people who we were then. But Connie, never really liked the rides so we just walked around and enjoyed the ocean air.
The Trip to Murfreesboro Tennessee
Friday, I would describe it as a day that would be typical of us for the rest of our lives when we got into a car. We had a good breakfast, said goodbye to my brother, and left right around ten that morning. This next statement could go on “The Story” page but I am going to put it here. It was about ten that morning and we were driving by a McDonalds’ and it was open for breakfast. So, on June 5th, 1970, I am telling Connie that was the craziest idea I had ever heard of, who would go to a McDonald’s for breakfast? Boy was I wrong. Why was this so typical of the rest of our lives in a car? Well rather than take the main highways, Connie and I decided to take the less-traveled roads (it turned out some were very less traveled). Anytime we got into a car you never knew how we were going to go. It came to be our adventure time. Back to the story. It was uneventful, enjoying the scenery, the small towns,and the hills. We stopped at about six that evening at a little fast food place called “Tastee Freeze” (I am not sure they are around anymore). After eating we started back on the road again, somehow, we must have gotten a little off track because we were going up this steep hill with sharp curves, trees, on one side, a drop off on the other and then the trees, and drop offs seem, to keep changing sides. The fog started setting in and soon became very heavy and I was having a hard time seeing. Just as we round a curve there was a sign that showed up in my headlight and the sign even had lights on it. It said, “Are You Prepared to Meet God”. That was enough for Connie, she kept insisting I pull over but there was no place. Finally, around a quarter to eleven, we come upon this gas station in the middle of nowhere. It was nothing more than an old wooden shack with a bare lightbulb hanging down. It was right on a curve and we pulled the Volkswagen into the gravel there.
Here we are out in the middle of who knows where tired and worn out. Connie says I need to go pee. Stupid me says watch out for the bears. What a stupid thing to say as Connie was so afraid she would not even get out of the car until the sun started coming up the next morning. After a restless night and the sun just coming up, we left before whoever was running that place showed up. It was someone Connie and I did not think we would like to meet. She went to the bathroom and we took off. We had no idea where we were, but we knew we were heading west, so we just kept going. I have no idea how we got on those little roads, but we did. Finally, around eight we hit the interstate just above the Tennessee border, and we drove till about eight forty-five and stopped for breakfast. It was a wonderful time we had coffee, eggs, etc., and just talked and laughed about what had happened to us. After nearly forty-six years of marriage, Connie and I would always laugh when we thought about that. Sometime around noon, we stop at a little store just off the interstate. I told Connie not to say anything because, in this part of Tennessee, they did not like the Yankees. I never thought she would believe me but one of the guys in the store kept asking her questions and she would just smile and nod her head. Finally, he asked me if she was mute and I said no she just lost her voice. We got in the car and laughed so hard all the way to were we were gonimg to live in Murfreesboro Tennessee. It was 109 South Tennessee Blvd.
The arrival was not as good as I expected it. Remember I left in a hurry, the beds were made, and things looked neat. Connie had taken her shoes off and walked into the kitchen barefooted and stepped into something sticky on the floor. It was Kool-Aid that I had spilled the night before I left and had forgotten about. I thought she was headed back home but we survived it. I had not had a phone installed as it was just me living there. Anyway, across the street was this little market with a phone outside it. Connie went there and called her mother to let her know we had gotten there safely. I think she was struggling that first day. I took off to the grocery store where I was working and let Connie do what she wanted to with the house. We made it. Our first night in our new home.
Meeting My Parents
The next day we went to Shelbyville to visit my parents who were unable to make it to the wedding. We had a great visit but then some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles started talking and she was completely lost. Everyone was talking at once in this drawl we have, and Connie could not keep up. I remember my aunt asking her what she lacked, (meaning did she get everything at the wedding she needed) but Connie took it as the word like and started telling her all the things she liked. The first few months visiting my relatives were interesting for Connie as she had to get used to the drawl and the language. But we returned that evening June seventh ready to start the next chapter in our lives. “The College Years.”
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