She was born without legs in a time when such people were institutionalized or worse, but she avoided that fate. They said she’d never walk; instead, she soared.
A fictional account of a girl born over a century ago who, with love and support from her family and friends, defies a culture where disability is considered shameful and disabled people are marginalized, openly discriminated against, and even treated as less than human.
Part 7 includes the following chapters:
Chapter 15 – Motivating Millie
Chapter 15 – Motivating Millie
Eventually, Dick felt ready to offer Millie the engagement ring again. However, he had no idea how he was supposed to do that the second time around. Just like a woman marrying for the second time wouldn’t wear a traditional white dress, because that was a once-in-a-lifetime privilege, he didn’t feel like his second proposal should be a repeat of the first one. But he had no idea how he should proceed otherwise.
Dick spoke to the guys about his dilemma. By now, they were getting together with both Fred and Bert present, and the two rivals didn’t have any issues with each other. Fred suggested, “If it were me, I’d make her propose to me this time around, since she was the one who ended the first engagement. Maybe that’s just me being full of myself again; I don’t know.”
“Actually, I don’t think that’s an entirely bad idea,” replied Bert, “but I wouldn’t ‘make’ her do it. That sounds like you’d require her to grovel at your feet and beg, and I don’t think either of you’d want a relationship based on that. I think instead, you’d want her to think it was her idea somehow, and be pleased to do it.”
“How would I do that?” Dick asked.
“I don’t know… Get one of her sisters to suggest it, maybe. Or even both of them.”
So Dick spoke to Fannie and Alice about the idea. “I know Millie’s been wanting to resume our engagement ever since she came and apologized to me in her pajamas. I’ve reached the point where I’m ready for that, too. But I got to thinking – since she’s the one who ended it, shouldn’t she be the one to ask me to marry her this time? Do you think maybe you could suggest that to her? Of course, she doesn’t have to buy me a ring or anything.” All three of them laughed at the idea of that. “I’ll gladly put the ring back on her finger, but it’d be nice if she were the one doing the asking this time.”
The pair understood Dick’s rationale and agreed it made sense. They promised to float the idea past Millie and see what she thought about it. Dick then added, “Just one more favor – would you please not tell her that I put you up to this? Make it sound like it’s your idea, or even better, try to get her to come up with the idea herself.” They told him they’d try.
A few days later, the three sisters were together and Fannie said to her, “I was talking to Dickie the other day. The subject of you two getting engaged again came up. He said he was ready for that, but it was clear he was struggling to find the moxie to ask you again. After what happened last time, I guess I really can’t blame him. So Alice and I got to talking about it, and we thought, why should he…”
Millie interrupted Fannie and finished the thought herself. “…why should he have to do the asking this time? I was the one who threw the ring in his face; I should be the one to ask for it back.”
“Exactly!” agreed Alice.
“Okay, you guys have to help me plan this!” Millie said excitedly.
The three sisters told their guys they wanted to go on a triple date together to one of their favorite wheelchair-friendly restaurants, and the following weekend, they did. The owner had had multiple sons serve in the war and had a soft spot for disabled vets, so Stan always got the royal treatment there, but they were always kind to Millie as well.
After dinner, the waiter brought out a bottle of champagne along with six glasses. “We didn’t order this,” Dick told him, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Usually their staff was more on the ball than this.
“Your lady friend ordered it, sir,” the waiter replied as he opened the bottle and began filling glasses.
“You ordered it?” Dick asked Millie, confused. He looked around the table and everyone was smiling. “What’s the occasion?”
“You’re about to find out,” replied Millie coyly, with a twinkle in her eye.
When the waiter left the table, to Dick’s surprise, Millie backed her wheelchair out of the way, got out of it, sat on the floor next to Dick, took his hand, and looked up at him. Other patrons nearby noticed what was happening but didn’t understand why. “This is the closest I can come to getting on my knee,” she explained to Dick. A few within earshot began to catch on upon hearing that and turned to watch.
Millie then said to him, “Dickie, the stupidest thing I’ve ever done was to throw that engagement ring in your face and tell you I never wanted to see you again. You were completely innocent of everything I accused you of. I believe that since then, I’ve earned back your trust and respect, as you’ve earned mine. And so now I’m telling you that I want to be your wife more than anything in the world, and would be most honored to wear your ring again if you can find it in your heart to give me a second chance with it.”
By now, everyone in the restaurant who could see or hear what was happening were giving the couple their full attention. All eyes were on Dick, waiting to see how he’d respond. He didn’t disappoint. Without saying a word, he lifted Millie up off the floor and set her on his lap, facing him, and began kissing her passionately, right there in front of everyone. The restaurant patrons erupted in applause and cheering.
When he’d finished kissing her and the noise died down, Dick said in response, “Millie, I never stopped loving you and never stopped wanting to be married to you. You’re the only girl for me and you always will be.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. “I’ve been carrying this around with me for a while now, but it belongs on your finger,” he told her as he slipped it on her.
Millie proudly held her left hand up high for all to see, and everyone in the place again responded as they had just a couple of minutes earlier. Bert then took his champagne glass and stood. “A toast!” he said loudly enough to be heard by everyone. “To Dick and Millie, the cutest couple I know! May they have nothing but love and happiness together for many decades to come, and too many grandchildren to count!” Those at their table and everyone else within earshot laughed, raised their glasses, took a sip, and applauded a third time.
Now that they were engaged again, Dick and Millie immediately started making plans for a life together. They saw no reason to wait get married any longer than it would take to make all of the necessary arrangements. Millie began planning the wedding itself, and Dick focused on finding a place for them to live and where to honeymoon.
The where to live question was more complicated that it was for most couples, because it would need to be either wheelchair accessible or able to be readily made that way. That pretty much eliminated rental property because landlords would balk at them making physical changes to accommodate a wheelchair. It also eliminated the small starter homes that were popping up everywhere; those invariably had tiny bathrooms and narrow hallways. Of course, they had to stay within budget, too, which eliminated the large Victorian homes like their parents owned.
Eventually Dick found a very suitable Sears kit home built a couple of decades earlier. Sears, the retailer, once sold through their mail-order catalog kits including most of the materials to build houses in a variety of sizes and floor plans, including detailed blueprints and assembly instructions, with the lumber and other large materials pre-cut to the correct size. This particular home was a two-story, but had a straight staircase that would enable them to install a chair lift. It was big enough that they could remain there as their family grew.
The house was toward the upper limit of their price range. Fortunately, both Dick and Millie had saved quite a bit of their paychecks both during and after the war, since Dick had no living expenses to speak of while in the army, they both otherwise lived with their parents, and wartime rationing limited what they could have bought anyway. Also, Millie was still working, though they knew they couldn’t count on that for very long after their wedding day, as pregnant women were universally expected to quit their jobs before they started showing.
Dick brought Millie to see the house, and carried her up the steps so she could see the upstairs. She agreed it would do nicely once the necessary modifications were made, and Dick proceeded to sign a contract, put a deposit on it, and apply for a mortgage. Once the mortgage was approved and final papers signed, the house was his, and with the help of Millie’s father, he proceeded to make the house completely wheelchair accessible so it would be ready for them after the wedding.
They had next to nothing in the way of furniture or other household goods. They knew they’d get a lot of the latter as wedding gifts, so they concentrated on acquiring the at least the minimum furniture they’d need to live comfortably. They didn’t need Millie’s income to pay the mortgage, so they agreed they’d use it to buy furniture with. And so, they gradually acquired what they needed, starting with a bed.
Dick had in mind that they should go to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. At the time it was an extremely popular honeymoon destination, so much so that it was commonly known as the ‘Honeymoon Capital of the World’. Being only a little more than 200 miles [320 km] from Cleveland, it was easy enough to get to either by car or by rail. Easy enough for able-bodied people, anyway.
From past experience, Millie had very real concerns about her ability to get around in public places and on public transportation, and couldn’t see how she could possibly go somewhere like Niagara Falls. But Dick was determined to not deny her a proper honeymoon due to her disability. He spoke to everyone he knew who’d been there and did as much of his own research as he could, even making expensive long-distance telephone calls to some of the major establishments there.
Dick was convinced if they drove there, they’d be able to do most everything. He knew there’d be plenty of places where her wheelchair wouldn’t go, where he’d either have to carry Millie or she’d have to walk on her hands. Fortunately, she had the ability to do that, unlike someone like Fred who was paralyzed but otherwise physically intact. But if she were willing to do that, he thought they could make it work.
Dick wanted Millie to be better prepared for walking on her hands than she’d been up until then. He wanted her to either have suitable leather gloves she could wear or something equivalent to shoes with soles she could slip her hands into. Gloves were easy enough to get, but they soaked through when wet and provided limited protection against things like the small rocks you might find in an unpaved driveway or parking lot. Having shoes custom-made in the shapes of hands would cost a lot of money.
Dick asked Millie if she’d ever tried walking with her hands in shoes, meaning actual shoes intended for feet. Only when joking around, using family members’ shoes, she replied. So, never with shoes that you chose for yourself to use in public?, Dick inquired. Never, Millie confirmed. Dick then told her he wanted her to buy a pair of leather gloves and a pair of shoes or sandals she could use when she needed to walk on her hands in public, and that she should keep both in her purse at all times. He’d pay for the gloves, the shoes or sandals, and a larger purse if necessary. So Millie went shopping with her sisters and bought what Dick requested.
Upon their re-engagement, Millie immediately started shopping for a wedding dress, looking for a place to hold a reception, a caterer, a baker to make the wedding cake, a photographer, a florist, and all the rest. She’d at least have to know when the dress could be ready before she could arrange anything else, and then the reception hall was the next most important to firm up. She’d hold the wedding ceremony at her church, and she could get that anytime it wasn’t already reserved for someone else.
As far as a dress went, she knew she’d have to either have one heavily altered or custom made so that it would be compatible with her truncated body and her wheelchair. It would have to be much shorter than a normal wedding dress, and couldn’t have a built-in crinoline or be meant to be worn with a separate crinoline underneath. A crinoline is the stiffened petticoat that makes the dress poofy from the waist down.
So Millie went dress shopping with her mother and sisters. Like with any public outing, she had to repeatedly contend with shops that weren’t wheelchair accessible and store clerks who were unwilling to work with or were even openly prejudiced against cripples. The women put up with and worked around minor physical barriers and subtle snubs. Still, it was a frustrating experience.
Just when they were about to give up for the day, they visited a small, out-of-the-way bridal shop. The proprietor was an older woman who was surprisingly sympathetic towards Millie’s situation and understanding of her needs. Millie explained that the actual dress needed to be very short, just enough to cover her, so that she’d be able to get in and out of the wheelchair and use the bathroom while wearing it. However, she wanted it to appear longer, as a wedding dress should be. She’d need some kind of skirt that could be easily removed and put back on that would make the dress appear longer. The woman offered creative, practical suggestions and sketched out some ideas on paper.
Millie immediately knew she wanted this woman to be the one to design and make her dress. After further discussion with her, based on what Millie wanted and the dress shop’s backlog, she told her that it would take six months to make a dress and another two months to complete the alterations.
It was presently May 1947. Eight months from then would mean a January wedding, which is not a wise thing to try to do in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland is prone to heavy snowfalls that can shut down the city for days at a time. She’d have to wait until spring 1948 to get married. That was disappointing, but it would give her the time to plan and arrange for everything without feeling like she was being rushed, and give her more options as far as lining up the other services she’d need.
Next was to find a venue for the reception and banquet. That turned out to be pretty easy, as she found a nearby hotel with a banquet hall that had no steps or curbs to contend with getting from the entrance to the hall. She reserved the hall for a Saturday in late April 1948, then immediately reserved the church for the same date, and then over the next couple of months, firmed things up with the other businesses whose services she’d need.
Back at the dress shop, Millie returned to get measured and to finalize the design of the dress. By now, her father had been able to buy a car with an automatic transmission, install hand controls, and teach Millie to drive. She’d driven herself there and was lucky to find a parking space right in front of the shop.
Millie remarked to the proprietor about how other shops she’d visited first weren’t interested in working with her and thanked her for not being that way. The proprietor, a woman named Bessie, explained. “I gathered from overhearing you talk with your family that you were born without legs; you didn’t lose them in an accident or anything. I can also tell you didn’t grow up in an institution.
“I have a niece who’s also crippled. Not exactly like you; she has legs, but they’re deformed and unable to bear weight. Her family sent her off to a crippled children’s home when she was very young, but she reached the age limit and had nowhere to go. By then, her parents had both passed away, so now she lives with me. She has some serious mental problems, but I’ve talked to her about it quite a bit, and I’m convinced they’re due to her being in that home for most of her life, not because she was born that way.
“I suppose I immediately took a liking to you because you’re living proof that being born crippled doesn’t automatically also mean being feeble-minded or insane. You’re going about living your life just like anyone else would be, and to have come in here, you’re obviously normal and stable enough to have attracted someone who wants to spend his life with you. I think of you as what my niece could have been if her parents hadn’t put her away.”
“It’s a real shame about your niece,” Millie replied. “I’m very fortunate; my parents did everything in their power to keep me out of places like that and raise me as normally as possible.”
“God bless your parents, then,” replied Bessie. “They’re very enlightened.”
Chapter 16 – Marrying Millie
Several weeks ahead of the wedding date, Dick and Millie went to the county courthouse to get their marriage license. They went to the counter to get a blank form, proceeded to fill it out and sign it, and then went back to the counter to give it back to the clerk.
“Here you go,” Dick said to the clerk, handing him the completed marriage license.
“Thank you,” said the clerk. “Please go to room number 1 down this hall,” he said as he gestured, “and someone will be with you shortly.”
The couple did as they were asked, not realizing that this was not the normal process. Normally, the clerk would have reviewed the document, signed it, recorded it, and given it to them while they stood at the counter.
In the room were a desk with one chair behind it and two chairs in front of it. Obviously, the two chairs were intended for them. Dick moved one of them into a corner and sat in the other, having created space for Millie to wheel up next to him.
A few minutes later a different, older man entered the room, holding what appeared to be their marriage license. He looked over his reading glasses at them and said, “Hello, I’m Probate Judge Powell. So you two want to get married?”
“Obviously, sir,” replied Dick.
“Miss, uh, Duncan, how did you come to lose your legs?” The couple both wondered how that was relevant to getting married, but assumed the judge was merely asking out of curiosity.
“I never had legs in the first place, your honor. I was born this way,” Millie answered.
“Uh, I see,” said the judge in response. “Have either of you been sterilized?”
“Sterilized, sir?” asked Dick.
“Surgically made unable to have children,” the judge clarified.
“No, sir, neither of us,” Dick replied, not liking where this line of questioning was going.
“In that case, Mr. Gardner, Miss Duncan, I must strongly advise you both to reconsider this marriage.”
“Why would we do that, sir?” Dick asked, knowing what the answer would be but making the judge say it out loud. “We’re both responsible, consenting adults and very much in love. We have the blessings of our families and our wedding is already scheduled for a few weeks from now.”
“If you were to marry, there’s a very good chance you could bring a deformed child into the world who would be a burden on society. It would be highly irresponsible to do that, and it would be highly irresponsible of me to allow you to do that,” the judge replied.
“Don’t you think we’ve considered the possibility that Millie’s condition is hereditary?” Dick asked, now perturbed. “We’re prepared for that should it happen.”
“Your Honor, I was a deformed child,” Millie pointed out, now offended and agitated. “I wasn’t a burden on society; my parents made sure of that, and I’m not now. This ‘society’ you’re so worried about wouldn’t even provide me with a decent education even though there’s not a thing wrong with my brain, so my grandmother took it upon herself to see that I got one. If anything, ‘society’ placed an undue burden on me and my family.
“‘Society’ didn’t give me this wheelchair; my father made it with his own hands. I had a job that was essential to the war effort, working for a company that manufactured war materiel. I’m gainfully employed still, and not making baskets or some other useless thing like ‘society’ would’ve trained me for. I’m a switchboard operator, and I can do that job as well as anyone with legs.
“Maybe our children will have legs; maybe they won’t. It doesn’t matter to us, just like it didn’t matter to my parents or my fiancé that I don’t have legs. Either way, they’re going to contribute to society, not be a burden on it, I can assure you.” Millie glared at the judge and did everything in her power to keep from crying. She did not want to appear weak now.
Dick was immensely proud of Millie for standing up (a figure of speech, he realized) to the judge like that. She made his effort to do so look pathetic, but he wasn’t threatened by that; he was inspired to learn from her and do better in the future.
The judge wasn’t so closed-minded that he couldn’t see Millie’s point. Being in the legal profession, he knew all about the power of compelling facts combined with a passionate, persuasive argument.
“All right, Miss Duncan, you win,” he said with a smile. “Normally in situations like this, I make the couple go think about what they’re wanting to do for a week, minimum, and only If they can come back and make a reasonable justification for why I should let them marry and have children do I relent. You didn’t need a week; you did it in a minute.
“You missed your calling, you know; you’d make a heck of a trial attorney. That was the most articulate and convincing presentation of relevant facts in support of allowing a congenital cripple to marry I’ve heard yet, and it had the appearance of being completely unscripted and unrehearsed.
“I believe you when you say you won’t let your children become burdens, and I’m convinced you have the gumption to ensure that that happens. I’ll sign your marriage license personally.” He looked over the document, saw that everything was in order, and signed it. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll have the clerk record this and then you’re free to take it with you. Congratulations to you both, both for impressing me and for your upcoming marriage.”
Millie had chosen Fannie to be her maid of honor, and Alice, her childhood friend Helen, and Henry’s girlfriend Jean to be bridesmaids. Dick asked Stan to be his best man, and Fred, Bert, and Henry to be his groomsmen. Bert and Henry doubled as ushers, but Dick didn’t think it would work very well to have Stan and Fred try to do that in wheelchairs, so he recruited a couple of other friends to serve as ushers.
Henry escorted his two grandmothers to their seats. One of Dick’s friends escorted his mother, and then Bert escorted the mother of the bride to her seat on the front row. Dick and Pastor Taggart, who was officiating the ceremony, entered the sanctuary from a side door and stood facing the audience, the pastor on the chancel, or stage, three steps up from the congregation, and Dick in front of the chancel at the same level as the congregation. Normally the bride and groom would also be on the chancel, but there was no practical and dignified way to get Millie’s wheelchair up there.
Then the organist paused and began playing Canon in D by Pachelbel, the traditional processional song for the bridesmaids and groomsmen. First down the aisle were Jean and Henry, followed by Helen and Bert, Alice and Fred, and then Fannie and Stan. Millie and Dick had considered pairing up their attendants so that all couples would be together, but they were each dead set on who their maid of honor and best man should be, making that impossible.
The organist paused again and began playing Bridal Chorus by Wagner, the traditional bride’s processional. The audience took their cue and stood and turned to face the rear of the sanctuary. At the back door were Millie in her wheelchair, accompanied by her father John.
Millie had debated whether to wheel herself down the aisle or have her father push her, and likewise with Dick at the end of the ceremony. Ultimately, she decided she’d wheel down the aisle under her own power during the processional, with her father at her side, and she’d have Dickie push her chair during the recessional. That seemed to her send the right message that she was a capable woman voluntarily entering into a relationship with a man who’d committed to care for her.
So Millie pushed herself down the aisle as her father John walked alongside her. She placed her bouquet at the front of the wheelchair seat, where her lap would have been if she had one. It was a shame that she couldn’t go down the aisle with one arm in his and the other holding her bouquet, but there was simply no way to do that.
Millie and Dickie had agreed in advance that as soon as the processional music started, they’d make eye contact and keep their eyes locked on each other as she came down the aisle. What they hadn’t discussed in advance, but ended up doing anyway, was them both also smiling broadly as they did this. The congregation all noticed that they appeared to be unaware of anyone else but each other, which they found touching.
At the front of the church, John bent down and kissed his daughter on the cheek. She turned her wheelchair 90 degrees so she could face Dick. John then placed her hand in Dick’s, and took his seat next to Ruthie on the front row.
Pastor Taggart began his remarks. “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here today in the presence of God to witness a most joyous occasion: the union of Millie Duncan and Dick Gardner in holy matrimony. The institution of marriage is a sacred covenant made before God, and therefore is not to be entered into lightly, but reverently, passionately, lovingly, and solemnly.
“We rejoice today as Millie and Dick receive one of God’s greatest gifts – a loving partner to grow with, to share life’s joys and challenges with, to build a family with, to grow old with, and to journey with in faith throughout all of their days.
“I first met Millie when she was four years old, when her family joined this congregation. Many of you’ve known her mother Ruthie for much longer than that, as she also grew up in this very church. Like many of you, I’ve had the privilege of watching Millie grow from a precocious young girl into a beautiful and inspiring young woman.
“As I’m sure you’re aware or could easily imagine, Millie hasn’t had the easiest life, having had to face and overcome one obstacle after another, both physical and otherwise. She’s had to constantly contend with not only steps and curbs and narrow passageways, but also fear and prejudice and rejection, and she’s never in my experience failed to do so with both determination and grace.
“It’s my great honor to lead a congregation that’s made every effort to remove as many of those obstacles as possible, not only because we love Millie and her family, but also because it’s simply the right thing to do. Because the Duncan family came here and we’ve done that, this church has become a haven for other people with similar challenges, including a number of disabled veterans, two of whom are in the wedding party before you.”
The pastor had to pause as the assembled guests erupted into applause, both for the church’s accommodation and acceptance of handicapped people and for the sacrifices made by the disabled vets.
“Dick began attending here shortly after he returned from the war, as he was just beginning his relationship with Millie. However, I understand he’s been acquainted with the Duncan family almost as long as I have. He and Millie first met when he was in the third grade and she would have been in first grade. Dick was best friends with Millie’s older brother Jack, who of course died a hero in service to his country.”
Again the audience interrupted the pastor’s remarks with applause for Jack.
“It’s been a privilege to have gotten to know Dick as well, and I have the utmost respect for him. He has a remarkable ability to look past physical handicaps and to see the people behind those handicaps. That makes him a great match not only for Millie, but also for this congregation. He’s a fine young man who has a bright future ahead of him.
“I can think of no two other young people more deserving of each other’s continuing love and affection than Millie and Dick.
“And so, let us proceed. If any person can show just cause why these two may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
The couple had been a bit nervous about keeping that line in the pastor’s remarks, thinking that someone might object on the same grounds as the judge who granted the marriage license. However, the pastor encouraged them to leave it in, as he thought it highly unlikely anyone would do that, considering that the invited guests were all family, friends, and church members who’d had ample opportunity to voice any objections well before the ceremony. He thought that leaving it in and getting no objection would serve to further legitimize a marriage that someone might object to after the fact.
As expected, no one responded to the pastor’s invitation to object, so the ceremony continued. Dick had recruited his two ushers to read Scripture. The first came to the front and said, “I’ll be reading from Genesis chapter 2, verses 18 through 23 and 25.”
And God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And out of the ground God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him.
And God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Then the second one did likewise, saying “I’m reading selected verses from First Corinthians chapter 13.”
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The pastor then said, “Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are assembled here today in your presence to witness and celebrate the joining of Millie and Dick in holy matrimony. We rejoice that You enabled them to find each other, fall in love, and desire to continue on the journey of life together as husband and wife. We ask your blessings on each of them, their marriage, and their future children. May their love for each other draw them closer to You, and their love for You draw them closer to each other. May their home be a refuge of love, understanding, and tranquility. Give them the desire and determination to keep the promises that they make to each other here today, when it’s easy and also when it becomes challenging. For it’s in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the pastor then asked.
John stood and said, “Her mother and I do,” and then sat back down next to Ruthie.
“Richard Louis Gardner, have you come here freely and without reservation to marry this woman before you, Mildred Margaret Duncan?”
“I have.”
“Do you, Richard, take Mildred to be your lawfully wedded wife, and do you promise before God and these witnesses to be her loving and faithful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, forsaking all others and cleaving only unto her, until death do you part?”
“I do,” replied Dick.
“Mildred Margaret Duncan, have you come here freely and without reservation to marry this man before you, Richard Louis Gardner?”
“I have.”
“Do you, Mildred, take Richard to be your lawfully wedded husband, and do you promise before God and these witnesses to be his loving and faithful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and obey, forsaking all others and cleaving only unto him, until death do you part?”
“I do,” responded Millie.
“The couple will now exchange rings,” said the pastor. Stan gave Dick the ring he’d place on Millie’s finger, and Fannie gave Millie the ring for Dick’s finger.
“With this ring, I seal my promise, to be your faithful and loving husband, as God is my witness.”
“With this ring, I seal my promise, to be your faithful and loving wife, as God is my witness.”
Pastor Taggart then proclaimed, “By the power vested in me by the great state of Ohio, I now pronounce you man and wife.” He then quoted Mark 10:6-9 from the Bible:
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
“Dick, you may kiss your bride,” he said. Dick bent down and lifted Millie out of her wheelchair so he could kiss her while standing upright, just like he’d done at the conclusion of their first date. The assembled guests erupted in laughter and applause at this unexpected move, and then gave the couple a standing ovation.
John and Ruthie beamed at their daughter; the one everyone said would never find a job or a husband. She’d proved them all wrong. They said she’d never walk, but instead, she’d learned to soar.
Then the pastor said to the assembled group, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my privilege to be the first to introduce to you… Mr. and Mrs. Dick Gardner!” And again, the church erupted in applause as the couple waved, Dick put Millie back in her wheelchair, and he wheeled her down the aisle.
THE END