Jay and Bonnie's WeddingFort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, IndianaJanuary 22, 1967 |
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| Jay Braden and Bonnie Eileen Dunn were married on January 22, 1967. This Web page is being written on the 55th Anniversary of that marriage. This writing in no way reflects on the marriage of Jay Braden and Joyce Pollicina; Jay loved Bonnie and Joyce loved her previous husband, Fred; they now love each other in different ways.
At the time Jay and Bonnie were married, Bonnie was 19 and Jay was 22. Pretty young. They were married at the post chapel at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where Bonnie's dad was the Post Engineer and Jay's dad was a staff officer at the Army's Finance Center. Jay's best man was his roommate from college Jim Rohleder. January 22 was a Sunday; the day before a close friend from Purdue, Bill Hadley, was married in Indianapolis so many of Jay's Purdue friends were able to make his wedding. It was a simple ceremony and the reception was at the base’s Officers Club. Jay’s parents had given Jay and Bonnie a wedding gift of a brand new 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle, a wonderful upgrade from the 1957 Ford that Jay had been driving. Jay and Bonnie’s honeymoon location was Chicago, where they had booked into a nice, if old, hotel there. The trip up to Chicago was uneventful, except that Jay had to stop to determine what was causing the noise from the left rear of the car. After a brief inspection, Jay learned that his Purdue Buddies had inserted pebbles inside his left rear hubcap. Thanks, guys! In Chicago, their accommodations were very modest, but they worked. They spent time visiting various museums around the city. One event that stands out is when Jay and Bonnie were taking a late afternoon lunch at the hotel’s dining room, and Jay ordered two glasses of wine. The waitress "carded" Bonnie, who was a bit young for wine according to the law. All that can be said is that Jay and Bonnie demonstrated their disappointment in their tip to the waitress. Soon it was time to return to Indianapolis and shortly thereafter Jay reported into the Army to attend the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Jay and Bonnie married young. There were still many things to be learned about life, but they learned them wonderfully together over the next 47 years. |
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| Jay and Bonnie's Marriage I understand completely that this is being written many years after our marriage date and nearly nine years after Bonnie's passing, and memories may fade or even be exagerated upon. That being said, I doubt that they were any more than two or three times in our entire marriage that we went to bed mad. And I can remember two distinct times in my military service when I was in the position of making a very difficult decision that, in fact, could influence my military career. Bonnie was 100% supportive in whatever I thought I needed to do. Fortunately my decisions turned out well. As the children arrived, Bonnie became very active in all facets of their lives. She was a Brownie Leader, a Girl Scout Leader, and a President of a PTA. She got the kids to and from their activities and was their greatest cheerleader. When Jay was deployed to Saudia Arabia for DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, she ferried Robert and Anne to and from Raymond James Stadium in downtown Tampa so they could rehearse for and participate in the 1991 Super Bowl Halftime Show honoring US Troops overseas. As we both got older, Bonnie's participation in Prayer Groups and similar religious activities grew. She maintained journals of her religious activities and of her daily prayers. A man might have the role of being the Spiritual Leader of a household, but Bonnie was the Spiritual Foundation. I think this was to be of wonderful benefit to both me and also to Karen, Sandra, Anne, and Robert. One of the things about Bonnie was that she was a 'real' person. How do I explain this? How about this: An army lieutenant colonel who commands a battalion has a lot of say in the future of the battalion's officers, and therefore many officers tend to 'tread lightly" when around him. Even more so for a Brigade Commander. This image translates to the wife of the commander and it is probably no exaggeration to say there are commander's wives where their husband's rank on their shoulders. (And may I add, that this is likely not an Army phenomenon; it probably happens in many major corporations in the business world.). Well, Bonnie certainly broke this mold and I have to think there are Army wives who interacted with Bonnie and saw that they could be themselves and saw that they could support their husbands continuing in an Army career. Yep, Bonnie was special!!! And because she was so special, there is a lot on the BradenClan Website about her: A good start is through the Celebrate Bonnie Webpages. Here is another story about the the Bad Durkheim Wine Fest. And another where we broght friends in from out of town and solicited memories and stories about Bonnie in honor of Bonnie's 60th Birthday. Bonnie, we love you and miss you.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) |
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