PRINCESS IN A PINK DRESS

Lynne rushed out of her craft room, bags full of party supplies swinging at her sides.

“Dad!” she called.

Harry looked up, slightly confused, trying to pull his thoughts away from what he was doing.

“What?” He responded, his tone edged with mild irritation.

“We have to go, or we're going to be late!” Lynne insisted, already making her way toward the door.

He sighed but nodded. “Okay.”

“Grab those boxes by the couch, and let’s go!” she added.

As he watched, Lynne turned toward her Mom, her voice carrying over the commotion.

His thoughts drifted.

It was hard to believe that it had been forty years since he and Suzanne were married at St. Luke’s in Wichita, Kansas.

He remembered the pastor asking him:

"Do you, Harry, take Suzanne to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise, before God and these witnesses, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do!" Harry said.

But the journey to this moment in time had begun long before—at another wedding.

It was a hot summer day—July 17, 1970—when Suzanne, 18, was married for the first time. Her father walked her down the aisle and handed her to the waiting groom. The couple exchanged vows and became husband and wife.

Both the bride and groom were Chinese. The bride looked stunning in her white wedding gown, but this was only the beginning of the Chinese traditions. She had two more gowns to change into throughout the celebration.

After the wedding ceremony, a banquet followed. It was held at the Fairlands Café in downtown Wichita, a restaurant owned by the groom’s father.

Who knew that the life of a 10-year-old boy would be changed by a single event on the bride’s wedding day?

His grandfather was best friends with the bride’s father-in-law, so he was brought to the banquet celebration. He remember standing near the front of the restaurant, watching the festivities unfold.

What he witnessed was a woman he thought was a princess. Dressed in a pink Chinese gown, she stood surrounded by several women adorning her with gold bracelets and necklaces.

Who could have predicted the significance of that day and moment? Humanly speaking, no one could have foreseen the outcome of that fateful day.

Years later, as he grew older, his grandmother would often take him to visit Suzanne and her mother-in-law. They visited frequently. Then, in November of 1972, Constance was born. She was a very cute baby. Exactly one year and a day later, Constance received a baby brother, Ben.

Over time, he developed a relationship with both Constance and Ben, but he was closer to Ben. They became buddies. They called him "Little Ben" since his father was "Big Ben." Harry really enjoyed hanging out with him.

As His adolescent years turned into his teenage years and then into young adulthood, life became more challenging.

School was a struggle for Harry. He didn’t realize until later in life that he had learning challenges. Harry struggled from the first grade all the way through high school. He had failed nearly every grade. He didn’t feel that going to school held any purpose for him.

By his junior year, he had started skipping school. Eventually, after missing most of the school year, he was suspended.

Harry’s father owned and operated a Chinese-American restaurant, following his father’s career path since he had only obtained a third-grade education. He wanted all of his children to pursue a higher education and surpass him, similar to his older brother, who had graduated from college with an engineer degree. However, when Harry was suspended from school, his father feared that he was destined for failure.

Therefore, he devised a plan—he would open a second Chinese restaurant for his son to manage and operate, hoping it would give him purpose and direction.

When Harry learned about his father’s plan, he was emotionally upset. He shook his head, anger boiling inside his soul. He had grown up in the restaurant since he was seven years old. He didn’t want to work in a restaurant. Harry had bigger dreams and ambitions, even though he didn’t know how he would achieve them.

He immediately went to the Navy recruiters and enlisted. Harry attended boot camp, followed by training to become a Navy Hospital Corpsman. After completing his training, he was assigned to the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan.

In January 1980, Harry arrived in Japan and was assigned to work in the labor/delivery and nursery ward.

About a year later, in early 1981, he received an unexpected call from his sister.

Sister: “Suzanne got divorced.”

Me: “Really?! What happened?”

His sister didn’t have any answers.

Harry was excited—not because Suzanne was divorced, but because, for the first time, the impossible suddenly felt… possible.

The image of her in that pink dress all those years ago had left an imprint on his ten-year-old mind. At the time, he didn’t understand why. Harry had lived a sheltered life, knowing little about relationships. But something about Suzanne had drawn him in from the very beginning. She was kind, fun to be around, and he loved spending time with her children. Over the years, that childhood admiration grew into something more—though he never dared to give it a name. She was married. That was an unchangeable fact.

Until now.

When his sister told Harry the news, his heart raced. She’s single? He thought, hardly believing it. A rush of emotions overwhelmed him—excitement, nervousness, and a sudden urgency.

He had to go home.

He had to see her.

Harry didn’t know what would happen. he wasn’t sure if she’d even see him as more than the kid who used to visit her family. But he had to try.

Without hesitation, he submitted his military leave papers for 30 days of vacation.

This was his chance—maybe his only chance—to see if something more was possible between them.

After he flew home, the first chance he got, he went to Suzanne’s apartment. His sister had told him where she lived.

In high school, he had been known as the "Chinese Cowboy." Now, imagine a 21-year-old Chinese young man appearing out of the blue, knocking on Suzanne’s door—wearing a western-studded shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat.

Harry knocked.

Suzanne opened the front door, and for a brief moment, her face lit up with surprise. But almost instantly, surprise turned to shock—then to something close to panic. Her eyes widened as she instinctively reached up to touch the rollers in her hair. She clearly hadn’t expected any visitors, let alone Harry.

Before he could say a word, she let out a small gasp and, without hesitation, slammed the door shut.

Harry stood there, unsure of what had just happened. He was not sure what he should do next, wait, or leave. He decided to wait for a moment.

A few moments later, the door creaked open again. This time, she was composed, her hair neatly styled, and a hesitant smile on her face.

This was a key moment—the beginning of an attempt to build a friendship, with hopes of something more.

Suzanne invited him into her apartment, and they chatted for a bit. She was curious about when he had gotten back into town and bombarded him with questions. They made arrangements to spend time together with her kids and decided to go roller skating. They decided on a day and time. However, their conversation was cut short because she had to go to work.

On the appointed day and time, they went skating. They had a wonderful time. Harry remember the next day aching and hurting from falling, using muscles that hadn’t been worked in that way for a very long time.

At some point, Harry made his interest and intentions clear to her.

She told him, "You should find someone your own age."

But he didn’t give up. He continued to pursue her.

At the end of his leave, Harry returned to Japan, and they started writing to each other. He would call her from time to time, though our conversations were short since long-distance phone calls were expensive.

Harry had applied for advanced training and was approved to become a surgical technician. The training was located in San Diego, California.

He convinced Suzanne to visit him in San Diego. Her first visit was by herself, and we explored some tourist spots together. They also spent time with his nurse friend, Norie, and her husband, Joseph, who had been his roommate in Japan. It was a great visit, and they grew closer.

Suzanne visited a second time, this time bringing Constance and Ben. They had a layover for a couple of days before flying to Hong Kong for Suzanne’s younger brother’s wedding. They took the kids to Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. They had an amazing time. The kids ran around excitedly, and Suzanne had to remind Ben not to overexert himself because of his asthma.

Harry was very sad to see them leave for Hong Kong. He had truly enjoyed spending time with Constance and Ben.

After completing his training, he received transfer orders to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Initially, he had to attend additional Field Medical Service Training before being assigned to the Second Medical Service Support Battalion.

It was November 1982 when he arrived at his duty station and checked into headquarters. He was assigned to Bravo “B” Company and quickly put to work in the medical clinic, learning to conduct sick call. "Sick call" is when service members report for treatment due to illness or injury.

Not long after, He was assigned to the MSSG-22 detachment for deployment to Beirut, Lebanon as part of the Multinational Peace Keeping Force.

They kept in touch frequently during his travels to and from Beirut, using ham radio operators, and through letters while he was stationed there. Talking to Suzanne and the kids over the radio was both adorable and heartwarming.

Their conversations went something like this:

Harry: “Hi Suzanne, over.”

Suzanne: “Hi Harry, over.”

Harry: “How are things back home? Over.”

Suzanne: “Everything is fine here, over.”

Suzanne: “Little Ben wants to say hi, over.”

Ben: “Hi Marky! Over.” (Ben called him "Marky" because his middle name is Mark.)

Harry: “Hi Ben! How is school? Over.”

Harry: “My time is up. I’ll call again soon. Over.”

Suzanne and Harry also stayed connected by reading books together and discussing them in their letters. They decided to read The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. Through their discussions about the characters and the plot, they got to know each other even more. This experience brought them closer. They did this with a couple of books.

Through long-distance calls and heartfelt letters, Their connection deepened. By the time they saw each other in person, their bond was even stronger, making every visit more meaningful.

After his deployment, Harry returned from Beirut and was reassigned to the sick call clinic. Eventually, I became a supervisor for the clinic at the Marine Corps Brig, a military prison.

Then, one evening near the end of November, tragedy struck.

Harry was working an overnight shift at the Brig when Suzanne called. Her voice was trembling, and he immediately knew something was terribly wrong.

She had been crying. He heard it in her voice—panic, deep pain, and dismay.

"Ben died," Suzanne said, her voice trembling.

"What?!" Harry said. "What happened?"

Slowly and painfully, Suzanne told him the story.

Ben had been struggling with his asthma, so she took him to the hospital for treatment. Once he was stable and eating, she left him with his grandmother while she picked up her daughter. On the way back, they stopped for food.

When Suzanne returned to the hospital, she heard Code Blue over the speaker system. Her heart dropped.

She rushed to Ben’s room, where medical personnel were frantically performing emergency resuscitation.

Ben had asphyxiated due to a complication because of his asthma.

He didn't make it.

Harry was floored. Stunned. In total disbelief.

He became very sad, angry, and broken.

But he knew what he had to do.

The next morning, Harry requested emergency leave and returned to Wichita to comfort Suzanne. He was there for Ben’s funeral and stayed for a few days to support her in any way he could.

Just two weeks later, another tragedy struck.

His grandfather passed away.

Harry return to Wichita again, this time to mourn the loss of the man who had taught him so much.

By now, Suzanne and Harry had carried on a long-distance relationship for over four years. They had broken up multiple times, but each time, they found their way back to each other.

Life in Wichita was unbearable for Suzanne after Ben’s passing.

Harry had asked her to marry him too many times to count. But she wasn’t ready—until now.

She finally said yes.

Harry was overjoyed. He had longed for companionship, and Suzanne needed a fresh start. They both understood why they were taking the journey together.

Harry was jotted from his thoughts when Suzanne spoke to him.

"Honey," Suzanne said, pulling him from his deep thoughts.

"Yes?" he replied.

"It’s time to begin the banquet."

“Yes, Dear.” he replied.

Suzanne and Harry were married on a sunny day—March 23, forty years ago.

Eighteen months later, Lynne was born. Then, eighteen months after that, Ashley arrived.

They had many joyful moments and shed many tears along the way.

But through it all—by faith in God and steadfast commitment to each other—they had made it to this day.

As Harry stood before the guests they had invited, he glanced at Suzanne.

For a brief moment, they just looked at each other.

She was nervous. So was he.

But that feeling would pass in just a few seconds, once he started speaking.

Harry’s heart and soul overflowed with joy—grateful beyond words for the blessing of being married to Suzanne.

The princess he had first seen in that pink dress, nearly fifty-five years ago.

No words could fully capture the depth of his feelings.

But tonight, surrounded by family and friends, he would try.