Snapshots 13: Wearing Amish — One Last Time

I believe the last time I wore Amish was for my sister, Susan's wedding. She invited me to the wedding with a caveat — I had to wear Amish clothes, and oh, by the way, David was not invited. David and I were not yet married, and being the good Amish person she was at the time, Susan towed the Amish line, which meant using every possible chance to make me see my errant ways.

I did attend the wedding in my Amish clothes. David drove me near to my brother's place, where the wedding was taking place, and I walked the rest of the way. We arranged for David to pick me up at a certain time and place. I don't remember a whole lot about the wedding, other than how uncomfortable I was because I didn't know how to relate to anyone there, and they didn't know how to relate to me, either.  It was seven months after I'd left the second time, so I would have already been shunned, which meant I probably didn't eat there.

It was early afternoon when David and I arrived at my parents' place. I went immediately upstairs and took all those pins out of my dress and cape and apron to change into something comfortable. David called up from the bottom of the stairway and asked what I was doing. I said I was changing my clothing, and he said, "Oh, I wanted to take pictures of you." So, I pinned myself back into the dress, cape, and apron one more time — this time for a photo-op, strangely enough. I think it was probably the last time I wore Amish clothes.

Here are the photos we took:

He would have made a better Amish person than I ever was.

Holding the camera at arm's length

Some years later, Susan and her family left the Amish. In time, all my sisters left. Ours is the only family I know in Geauga County in which all the women left and the men stayed. I've gone through all 2,500 families in the 2006 Geauga County Amish directory, and I found no other families in which this is the case.

The same week that Susan got married, so did David's sister, who lived in that part of Ohio. We also attended her wedding. As a contrast to what we wore the day of Susan's wedding, here is a photo of us from David's sister's wedding.