Posted on September 2, 2009 - by Hubba

In Pictures; A Country Wedding

Last Friday afternoon, I agreed to drive my sister, the former Sister Maria Magdalena of Jesus Crucified, now just Becky Trask, to a wedding rehearsal.  Sister was the best friend of the bride, having gone partway through grade school with her, and keeping in touch through high school.

After high school, a lot had changed for both of them.  While most of my readers can relate to that, not many perhaps can relate to the direction their lives took.  While Sally Mickelson joined the Army, Becky joined the Cloistered Carmelite convent in Alexandria, SD.

Sally’s Army life eventually took her to England, where she fell in love with Brandon Cronin, a US Army Sergeant from Chicago, IL, while Becky’s life left her square in Alexandria, SD as Sister Maria (etc, etc) Crucified.

Now I have permission to show you photos of the wedding, but I did not explicitly get permission to give you the whole life and love story of Brandon and Sally Cronin.  We will suffice it to say that they were married by proxy in Montana, but then Brandon went on furlough to be married “properly.”  As luck would have it, a week and a half before the ceremony, Becky left the convent.

So, as I was saying, I drove Becky to the rehearsal, at the White Owl Church, where I was conscripted as an usher.  I tried to grumble and complain, but I was deeply honored to have a part in the most historical reenactment of a country wedding that I had ever witnessed.

Nowadays, most country weddings involve lots of cowboy themes; hats, boots, spurs, etc.  Perhaps the bride will arrive in a buckboard, maybe the groom will arrive on horseback.  After the ceremony, at the reception, the bride and groom will dance to George Strait’s “The Man In Love With You” or John Micheal Montgomery’s “I Swear.”

But this particular wedding incorporated a cowboy theme that I had never witnessed before; simpicity.  It’s an honest fact that we all drive cars now, and incorporating horses and buggys takes time and money.  At this wedding, there were three bridesmaids, three groomsmen and two ushers (actually a little extravagant for pioneer standards.)  The very small church was almost, but not quite, full.  A single pianist and a single minister performed the whole service.  And when it was done, we moved about 200 yards to the White Owl Hall to enjoy a potluck dinner, provided by those in attendance.  As far as I’m concerned, two people from the US Army out-cowboyed all the cowboys in the West in the wedding department.

And in case you think the bride wasn’t beautiful, I give you the following-