Married in black meant wish you were back. She didn't really know how far back she wished she were. She thought about her mother and Samuel. He would have been called Sam. She didn't remember either one of them but she knew things would have been different if they were alive. The twins would have been born and their mother would have deserted them so she would probably still be in this dilemma. Sam browsed the very slow internet pages and found a sleeveless wedding dress she liked at a small shop in Tupelo. The skirt and bodice were black. The dress was full and floor length but the front panels of the dress were cream-colored taffeta with a thin black mesh overskirt with designs in deeper blacks. It was fitted at the waist and the top was made to mold to the body. It was soft midnight black with even darker designs in the bodice. At the waist on the left a small black mesh flower was attached. She picked out a mesh see-through black veil which would attach to her hair and hang down to her waist, but would not cover her face. Sam realized that she was actually going to look like a gothic bride but she would not paint her fingernails black. She looked down at her hands and realized that she had never had a manicure.
About the Author: Jane Patrick Walls (nee Rebecca Jane Patrick) was born and raised on Patrick Road in Citronelle, Alabama, on a rural 1/2 section farm in Mobile County. She is the ninth of ten children, five sisters and four brothers. Their family home was filled with love and laughter; and those memories will last and be cherished a lifetime. Her parents instilled in her strong work ethics and love for God and mankind. She escaped the mundane hot summers and cold winters by reading and creating stories of her own. After graduating from Citronelle High School in 1965 and other formal education, she worked in various positions, as soon as she learned something new, she wanted to stretch herself once more and reach for another goal. At 66 she decided it was time to finish her "bucket list" by publishing some of her stories. The Lady in the Park was published December 2013 and The Abandoned Child was published January 2014. Her fourth novel is titled Wheel Broken at the Cistern and has not been sent for publication. When Wheel Broken at the Cistern is published, Jane will complete the sequel to The Black Wedding Dress. Jane plans to continue writing and one day would like to write a children's book for her grandchildren whose ages range from 23 to four and a great-grandson age two. Her sister, Esther Patrick Beech of Chatom, has urged Jane repeatedly to write a novel about their family. Jane finds that nonfiction is too painful to write as her parents are deceased along with three beloved nephews, one niece and three dear brothers-in-law. As the baby girl in the family, Jane holds each precious memory close and private in her heart. Her siblings range from 83 to 64 and she loves each one deeply. She prays daily for strength as she faces her older siblings' frailties, although she knows she may be called Home before any of them. Jane has been married to her husband, Charles, for forty-five years. They have lived in Satsuma, Alabama, another small town in Mobile County for forty plus years. They have a daughter Misty (Keith) and son Jeffrey (Wendy), six grandchildren, two special grandchildren, and one great-grandson.