Summary

Chapter 7 is titled “Southern Baptist Romance.” The author describes the small church near her parents’ farm where she and Jack get married. “This,” she comments in her narration, “is where we begin” (70). Both her parents find significant fulfillment and completion in arranging her wedding. While being driven to the church, she feels like she is saying goodbye to her childhood. She contrasts the extravagance of the wedding she imagined as a child with the simplicity of the wedding she is actually having, commenting on her dream of having a large group of people present means that she matters - “to be watched,” she says, “is to be wanted and to be wanted is to be loved” (71). She also comments on her dress, describing how “it grasps [her]torso just enough to make [her] feel like a woman” (72), and says she is looking forward...