What's with the ladybugs?

When my husband and I decided to get married back in 2001, I did the normal bride-to-be thing and looked up every wedding tradition, superstition, etc. that I could find. One of the superstitions that I came across said that if you have a ladybug on your wedding dress, then you will have a long and happy marriage.

We had our ceremony in a little white chapel at the end of the road in Gatlinburg, TN, called Sugarland Weddings. Part of the wedding package we paid for included three nights in a secluded cabin on the moutainside. My dad and his girlfriend ended up renting a cabin from the same company, and as chance would have it, their cabin was about one hundred feet up the hill from ours. I could literally stand on our front porch, throw a rock, and hit their back porch. It was pretty darn close, considering it was our "Honeymoon Suite." Fortunately, I love my dad dearly, and we didn't mind so much.

So, back to the ladybugs. When we walked into our cabin, it was covered in ladybugs. I do not think I'm being superfluous when I say there were a thousand of the little red critters in the cabin. Some were dead; most were alive. Having been in Girl Scouts for eighteen years at that point, bugs really didn't bug me, so I just saw it as a good sign, considering the superstition. Needless to say, on my wedding day, we found more than one ladybug on the dress. My dad's cabin, just up the hill, did not have even one little red bug the entire weekend: not even a dead one.

Ever since then, ladybugs have become my emblem. As they filled our cabin, they now roam my house in the form of jewelry, tchotchkes, and other random items. And I am happy to say that October 12, 2008 is our seven-year wedding anniversary, and Lars and I are still frequently told that we still act like newlyweds. Thank you, ladybugs!