Twenty one years ago today I said “I do” to the sweetest man on Earth, my husband, Fred Stroud. I remember that day well! We were so excited to get married, we didn’t want to wait for an evening wedding… we were married at noon on a hot August day. We had a beautiful wedding in Summerville, SC – we left the reception on the way to the John Rutledge House Inn (Charleston, SC).  It was such a treat to spend the first (luxurious) night in Charleston!

After we checked in and put our bags in our room we had family meet us at the inn to sit out on the veranda. Spending time with my husband and family at the most beautiful inn was such a treat! As was the breakfast the next morning… we had slept through it and there was a knock at our door, they brought us breakfast in bed… it was scrumptious and so beautifully delivered. Something I’ll never forget!

I swear, if this isn’t our room it was one very similar… When the bellman was showing us the room, he told us to “feel free to walk around the hotel and enjoy the beautiful art work, such as the piece above the mantel“… it was a piece that my dad had painted!!! He snuck down early that day and asked them to hang the painting… what a wonderful gift! Here is a photo of it… it’s not a good one… reflections make this a tough one to take a photo of… so disregard the reflections, and the fact that I had to crop off the frame, this is a watercolor by my dad, Joe Fidler… (frame cropped to get it somewhat square, sigh…).

From the moment I met Fred I KNEW he was the one. There was something about him. We clicked. Is it cliche to say that we’re soul mates? Well, we are, I can’t think of any other word to describe it. He is an amazing man, and I pray that I am as wonderful a wife as he is a husband. Something tells me I got the “lucky end of the stick”… ha ha…

Here’s to you Fred! You’re the best! I feel so blessed…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K

O NE   Y E A R   A G O..  You see this man? He is the love of my life!

T W O   Y E A R S   A G O…  The great escape on our wedding day… 19 years ago…