Author: Clare Lafferty
All little girls dream about their wedding day. Even though I was a tomboy, I too thought about my wedding and how it would be. But, I had a Mets frame of mind on my big day presented to me courtesy of my dad.
My dad was the one who got me liking all sports, but especially baseball. When I told him at age 8 that I wanted to follow the Mets, he was all for it. You see, my dad, aside from his full time job as an advertising executive in NYC, was a writer for our small home town paper and wrote little stories with a bit of wry thrown in. He decided to write a story about me and my wedding day with a Mets twist.
Here's how it was supposed to play out. First, the wedding would be between games of a doubleheader. The two families would come out from the dugouts - bride's from the home dugout; groom's from the visitors. The bride and groom would be brought to the field by the bullpen cars (you see, in 1968 we had bullpen cars still - I really miss that).
The cermony was to be held at home plate of course. And the bride would wear white -the white home Mets uniform naturally. When the ceremony was done, instead of that first dance as husband and wife, how about a run around the bases with a slide at home plate for good measure?
The reception would be held at the Diamond Club at Shea and then the couple would be off on their honeymoon - to Cooperstown.
The coolest thing about the whole article was not just that all my friends saw it, so did someone from the Mets. A few weeks after the article was published, I received a letter from the Mets and some tickets for a future game. I was so thrilled!
My dad has been gone now since 1998 and I didn't get married at Shea. But I always remember that time in my life with special meaning. I was just starting my love affair with the Mets and have my dad's article to look back on with great fondness.
I have a daughter of my own now and she is also a Mets fan. Hmmm.. a future wedding at Citi Field perhaps??
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