1900s: A wedding and short honeymoon

 

As Christmas week rolls around, there is but one agenda: Frank's and Emely's wedding! Set for Christmas eve there is so much to prepare. After Sunday service, as Dolly bakes the wedding cake, and Abigail plans for invitations, Anna sneaks out and finds something wonderful! A new playground right outside their door! 

Playgrounds were a very new conception in the early 1900s, and extremely rare. Invented in Germany but first built in England, they slowly spread and made their way to the US, often consisting of little more than a slide and some swings. The first US playground was built in San Francisco in 1887, but the first government-funded one wasn't built until 1903. Now that one has been built outside her home, Anna can be found more outside than inside. As far as she is concerned all this planning for a wedding is just plain boring. Building snow-men and playing pirate is much more fun. 

Then on Monday morning, tragic news reach the family. Thomas, Emely's uncle, passed away. Frank hurries over to the family to offer his condolences. Grief or not, however, there is no way to postpone the wedding ceremony. It's way too late for that. As funerals start piling up in the small community, the plans for the wedding continues.

A part of being an adult is being accepted into adult situations. Therefore, on Tuesday, Joseph brings Frank with him to the Private Club. It's about time his son too is a member. It's also a way to get away from all the wedding preparations in the house. To be honest, Joseph is about as interested in cakes and menus as Anna is.

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, it's finally time for the big day. Although Joseph is having conflicting emotions. His baby boy. Adult. Marrying. Going off to uni. By mid morning, Joseph is deep in an early midlife crisis!

What needs changing? Nobody knows. But something. (Gaining a daughter-in-law could of course be considered a change, but what do I know.) The wedding itself is a beautiful ceremony held in the newly built Newcrest Church. Emely and Frank walk down the isle, say their vows, kiss and then they host the reception in the small church hall next door. All in all, it's a successful wedding.

But it's once they return home that the fun begins (or at least that's Frank's thoughts).

As Christmas day rolls around, Emily settles in with her new family. For the next few weeks, as Frank gets his university degree, this will be her home, and this will be her new family. It's her first Christmas away from her own family, but the traditions are nice and the family welcoming. Even father Christmas comes to visit. Emely especially likes the joint concerto given by Frank and Joseph on the violin. 

Emily isn't, however, the only one who reflects on this being her first Christmas away from her family. Her father sends her this missive:

She promises to come by before she and Frank takes off for their (very short) honeymoon. After all, their train to Brindleton does not leave until the afternoon. That, of course, also means that it's quite late by the time they arrive at their hotel in Brindleton Bay. It's a far cry from Joseph's and Abigails grand tour to Europe, but it is what they can manage when Frank is starting uni so soon. It's a bit of a compromise, but Frank promises to make it up to Emily later. In the end, priorities was on securing the wedding and marriage before Frank left for university, to lessen the risk of anything going wrong. Other considerations can wait. Frank has, on the other hand, gifted the newlyweds with the best suite at the hotel. Frank doesn't waste any time in making use of the generous bed.

After, Emily is delighted at the vanity table, and decides she wants one of her own one day. The two goes downstairs for dinner, expecting to find a hotel bustling with people, but this is off season, and the hotel is almost eerily empty.

Not that Frank cares, he's not really in it for the dancing. As night turn to day, however, Emily insists on seeing some of Brindleton Bay as well. They visit the museum, and look at the view from the lighthouse (and as there is not a single person around, take the chance of doing things no respectable person would ever consider doing at a lighthouse!), then they go to the movie theatre. It's the first film either of them has seen. They end the day at a riding school, trying to ride for the first time. Neither can see themselves doing that again voluntarily. As they return to the hotel they spend their New Years Eve quietly together, enjoying the precious time they have before tomorrow.

As morning comes, it's hard to part, but they must. Emily is returning home, while Frank is continuing onwards, to Britechester just north of Brindleton Bay. They take a long time saying their goodbyes, until a train is set to leave and there is no more time to have. For one week, they'll be apart, she in a new house with a new family, and he settling into his history classes and new dormitory. They both hope time goes by fast.