Paper Nuptials

City Mouse Now Country Mouse
No. 7

Here they are: Cinderella and Prince Charming. They are the picture of Disney romance and wedded bliss. Many new brides have tried and tried over the years to recreate this "perfection" but honestly, anyone who has been married knows that there are always complications.

Moving cross-country creates complications. One of the complications for us has been with official documents. Over the 1300 miles and 200 boxes, we seemed to have misplaced a few things. In an effort to restore our file of important papers, I contacted the City of Alexandria for a copy of our marriage license. With different last names in a rural place, I felt it was important to have all of our "legal papers" in order. Today, Aaron and I received this latest complication via U.S. mail:

Dear Mrs. Cathey,
      I received your letter of request for a certified copy of your marriage license. Unfortunately, the marriage license between you and your husband Aaron David Frank has never been returned from your minister. Please contact the minister, who married you both, to find out why he has not returned it. The marriage license is valid 60 days from the date of issue and it must be returned within 5 days from the date of marriage. I am enclosing information from our office regarding your marriage license number . . .

REALLY?! Our first reactions were quite different.
    Aaron: "So, I guess this is your chance to get out if you want, Marcy."
    Me: "This is stupid." This was shortly followed by, "OK, we've been married for more than 7 years, so we're common law married." Even as I was saying it I felt stupid.

Initially, Aaron didn't seem as perturbed about the whole thing as I did. I think the upset for me was two-fold: first, the angst of not having the paperwork in a place that doesn't know us and we don't know well either; and second, Daddy & Mom had hosted our wedding and it just reminded me again that Daddy's gone. I think about him and miss him every day. So, while I know that paperwork can be lost and found or misplaced and replaced, people can't be. There was just one H. Marc Cathey, my Daddy.

As our 10th anniversary is coming up in June, Aaron and I did agree that we depending on what we find in our investigations, we will remain "common law" married--yes, in West Virginia--until then and renew our vows then. I'll keep you posted on our progress--otherwise expect to attend a party the second weekend in June, 2013.   

P.S. Aaron's become increasingly perturbed over the evening--ah, just one more thing to do!