November 4-7, 1999: We Visit Lowery and Ron in Florida
	August 1, 1999: August Birthdays
	Return to the Index for 1999

Today is the day of Prudence's wedding to Ron Ruckman. They have known each other for some time now, and Fred and I have had a chance to spend time with both of them since they have been together. And while our approval isn't at all necessary, we both think that the two of them complement each other, each supplying the other with their own strengths. Of course we like Prudence a lot- we always have. And in the time we have got to know Ron, we like him too.

So it is a great day, and a great day for a wedding.

The Location

Prudence and Ron have decided to hold their wedding in the back yard of Prudence's house in North Arlington.

Prudence used to live in an apartment in Las Colinas; that is where I first met her when Fred and I delivered a cat to her that we had gotten from Frank and Joe. (That's the same time that I got Chip and Dale.) Since then, she has moved to a new house in North Arlington, which is a good deal closer to her job at the Public Library.

Getting to Prudence's house from mine is pretty easy, and there are a number of ways to go. The best seems to be to head south on Inwood and continue on as it turns into Hampton and goes straight south to I-30. We then take I-30 west to the interchange with Ballpark Way.

Generally, Prudence lives just a short distance north of what was Wet 'n Wild (when Prudence lived there) but which is now Six Flags Hurricane Harbor- a water park.

She actually lives in a secluded subdivision north of the entertainment complex that lies along I-30, and which includes Hurricane Harbor, the Six Flags Amusement Park and Ranger Stadium. There are also zillions of restaurants, stores and movie theatres right near her, so while she lives on a nice neighborhood street, all the conveniences are very close by.

We exit onto Ballpark Way from I-30, and at the end of the ramp take Ballpark Way north, turning west on Lamar Boulevard. At this point, we are passing restaurants and coming up on Hurricane Harbor, but before we get there we turn north on a side street beside one of those big design stores.

We turn west again on Brookhollow Plaza Drive, and then immediately north again on Paloma Way- one of the streets that lead into the subdivision where Prudence lives. The subdivision is not gated, but it is nicely fenced, and once you are inside, you aren't looking at the business area along the Interstate (although on quiet nights in the summer, you can hear the shouts and splashing over at Hurricane Harbor and, if you listen very closely, the Texas Giant wooden rollercoaster across the highway in Six Flags. In all the times were at Prudence's house, though, we never found the noise to be obtrusive or irritating when outside, and it is much harder to hear anything at all when inside.

Corvallis Trail is the first left turn once you get onto Paloma, and Prudence's house is the first one in from the corner house on the south side of the street.

1718 Corvallis Trail is a nice, new house- very typical of the single-family homes built in the nicer suburbs all over the Metroplex and an excellent choice for Prudence. It is quite spacious; my guess would be somewhere between 2000 and 3000 square feet in size.

There is a front-facing two-car garage, and the front door is to its left. Just inside, there is a living room on your left, with the formal dining room in back of that. The stairs to the second floor are right in front of you. To your right, down the short hall, is the powder room and the entrance from the garage. At the end of that short hall is the family room. The kitchen and breakfast area occupy the space at the back of the house between the formal dining room and the family room- just behind the staircase and central core.

Fred and I have been to the house quite a few times, with the first time being when I set up Prudence's first personal computer shortly after she moved there from Las Colinas, so I am pretty familiar with the upstairs. There are four main rooms on the second floor. The master bedroom and bath are at the right end of the house, and there are nice windows that look out onto the back yard. One of the guest bedrooms extended out over the garage towards the front of the house. This bedroom Prudence used as her little office/reading room (and that's where I set up her computer). Also on the second floor was another bedroom and a large bathroom that both of the smaller bedrooms shared.

Ron and Prudence were both living there at the time of the wedding. But it wasn't just them. Prudence already had two cats- Misty and Callie- and after she met Ron they acquired two large dogs- Cassie and Max. While the dogs were outside much of the time, when they were inside they stayed in very large cages in the family room, which made that end of the house a beehive of activity.

To organize the pictures that Fred and I took at Prudence's wedding, I'll put them in some arbitrary groups. And while I didn't know (and don't remember now) everyone I met at the wedding, I'll do my best to identify the major players in these pictures.

The Bride and Groom

Before the ceremony, I got some nice pictures of Prudence and Ron and their immediate families. Three of the best of these are below:

Prudence Lucas and Mr. Lucas

Prudence and Nancy Lucas

Ron Ruckman and His Parents

I also got a nice picture of the Lucas women; that would be Pru Lucas and her daughters Prudence and Nancy:

The Ceremony

Of course, the whole point of the afternoon was the marriage of Prudence and Ron, so let's turn to that happy event.

The Ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Ron Ruckman

It began when all the guests were ushered out into the back yard to take their seats or find a place to stand. This was going while the photographer was taking a picture of Ron and his Best Man. Just as Prudence came out into the backyard, I snapped a picture of the minister, Ron and Ron's Best Man awaiting her. Also in the picture were Ron's father and mother who, along with his sisters, had come down from their home in Streator, Illinois. You can see that picture here.

The ceremony was a simple affair. Ron had a friend of his as best man, and Prudence had her sister (not visible in the left-hand picture) as maid of honor. There were also a flower girl (whose name I didn't know) and a little boy (ditto) to round out the wedding party.

After the ceremony, Prudence and Ron posed for all the photographers present.

The ceremony was witnessed by all the other guests, and we took some candid shots of the onlookers who were seated and standing in the back yard. Click on the thumbnail images below to have a look at our pictures:

Just after the ceremony, the photographer lined up all the Ruckmans for a group picture. There was Ron, of course, and his parents, as well as his three sisters. Just before the photographer took her shot, I took one, and you can also see in the picture Mr. Lucas (Prudence's father, with his back towards me) and Pru Lucas, her mother (the lady in yellow). You can have a look at that picture here.

Candid Guest Shots

In this last section, I'll put the candid shots that Fred and I took of the wedding party and their guests as they got a chance to mingle, meet each other and converse, and enjoy a light buffet supper. Some of the guests you may recognize, and I'll name them when I can, but a large number of the attendees were unknown to me.

My Mother, Olga

Lynne Richardson/Ron Mathis

Fred and Nancy

For the rest of the pictures, since I don't know most of the folks in them, I will just let you look at the ones that interest you. I have put these pictures into a short slideshow.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

It was a wonderful afternoon and a beautiful event. Both Fred and I hope that Ron and Prudence will be very happy. One thing we did find out in chatting with them (actually, we'd gotten intimations weeks earlier) was that shortly they would be making a trip to San Antonio to see whether it might be a good location for the first phase of their lives together and for something that Prudence has always wanted to do- operate a bed and breakfast.

(Note to the Reader:
Beginning next year, many of this album's pages will be devoted to the many trips that Fred and I made to San Antonio, for indeed, Prudence, with Ron's help, was able to realize her dream.)

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	November 4-7, 1999: We Visit Lowery and Ron in Florida
	August 1, 1999: August Birthdays
	Return to the Index for 1999