My First Church Wedding Attendance At Age Eight Years

On a beautiful June day in 1931 Mom took Inez and myself for a walk to the Trinity Lutheran Church in the west end of town. Mom knew about the wedding and the doors stood open. We began ascending the steps with the intention of going inside when a lady appeared in the doorway and told us that we could not come in.

Mom led us down the steps to the sidewalk and we were ready to cross the street when the same lady quickly appeared and told us that we COULD go in but that we should sit in the overflow room. “There are two chairs left,” she added.

The occasion was the church wedding of Grace Oie to Reverend H. Octave Johnson of LaCrosse, Wisconsin and the lady at the door was Helmina Oie.

After our attendance at the wedding Inez and my “house playing” turned into “church wedding playing.” We used a railing from the crib for the altar railing and Mom gave us an old lace curtain for the brides’ dress.

Mom said, “Monkey sees, monkey does!”