love and marriage

August 2022 - Anne Lowell and James Smith are 22, John and Elizabeth Lowell are 52.

Anne Lowell didn't give much thought to love. She was a serious girl, she planned her life carefully - school, college, work. But she met James Smith on her first day of college, and right away she started to fall for him.

He took her to dinner at the Hotel Ampersand at the start of their senior year.

"This is so wonderful, James," Anne said. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, I had something special in mind," he said with a smile, sliding a jewelry box across the table.

*****

One night she took him to dinner at her parents' house. They haven't met many of her friends; they know he must be special.

They liked him immediately. Everyone does. He's so kind and funny, unassuming and easy to talk to.

"He's a wonderful boy," her mother told her after dinner. "I'm so happy for you two."

*****

The wedding is small but elegant, as befitting the only Lowell child. They get married in the Lowell College chapel, and the reception is held at her parents' house. She and James invite their friends from college, and her parents invite some of their colleagues. His parents aren't able to attend, but his best friend Robert Stanton acts as his best man.

She wasn't planning on any of it - love, romance, marriage. But now that it's happened, she can't wait to start planning their life together.