MUNCIE, Ind.-Sherry Woodard just loves weddings. She loves catching the bouquet and seeing the flower girls. So perhaps it's not surprising that she loves-loves!-the TV show "Say Yes to the Dress."
Thanks to her devoted sister, Sherry recently had the chance to star in her own "Say Yes to the Dress" moment, a surprise that was in the works for months ahead of time.
And having said "yes" to a dress herself, she'll have the chance to wear it not for an actual wedding but at a wedding-themed "Sweet 70" birthday party later this summer.
Carla Gick has cared for her older sister her whole life, from getting into her only childhood fight with a neighbor girl who'd made fun of Sherry to sharing an apartment with her now at the Lofts at Roberts. Sherry has a birth defect that has kept her mentality around that of an 8- or 10-year old, Carla said.
Their parents didn't learn of Sherry's disability until she was ready to start kindergarten, at which point the family moved from Dunkirk to Muncie so Sherry could attend special classes at the Harry Mock School, Carla said.
The two sisters have lived apart at different points in their lives, including a time when Sherry lived at the state mental health facility in Fort Wayne as a young woman, and more recently a period when she lived in a Hillcroft group home. Much of the time, however, Sherry has lived with Carla, whose three sons grew up around their Aunt Sherry. Both Carla and Sherry have worked at Hillcroft Services, which Carla notes their mother's sorority supported early in its history.
Both sisters have survived cancer within the past five years; they lost their younger sister to cancer six years ago. "We take care of each other," Carla said, sitting across from Sherry in their living room overlooking downtown Muncie, "We're together all the time."
"She's a very nice sister," Sherry declared. Their family gathers at the former hotel-turned-apartments for Thanksgiving and Christmas, when Carla's sons try to outdo themselves each year with "the Aunt Sherry gift." Sherry gets a wrist corsage to wear every Easter and Mother's Day, the latter in honor of the baby dolls lined up and tucked in on her bed. And for Sherry's birthday each year, Carla asks her what kind of party she'd like, a question that sometimes results in a request for a surprise party.
This year's birthday celebration will be extra special, however. The idea began when Carla found a discounted wedding dress online last fall.
"Every girl deserves the experience of wearing a wedding dress if that's what they want," Carla said, tears coming to her eyes as she looked over at Sherry. "Her mind might be young, but young girls dream of stuff like this, not old women."
After a brief pause and a laugh, Carla then added, "Well, some old women do."
Initially "I just wanted to get her a dress," Carla said, but then the idea of featuring it in a big themed party for Sherry's 70th birthday in July came to her, and the scope of the party grew as she told people about it. Friends and their church, Tabernacle of Praise, picked up on the idea and offered to help with the food, the location, the set-up. Reni Lawhead, owner of Reni's Heaven Scent in Redkey, is providing the flowers.
A DJ will play the oldies music that Sherry likes to dance to. The cake will be a wedding-style tiered one, albeit with "70" on the top rather than bride-and-groom figures. Women from Gick's family-daughters-in-law and granddaughters-gathered the afternoon of May 24 at Saturday's Bridal and Prom, ready to surprise Sherry when she walked through the door.
Carla noted later she appreciated Saturday's owner Betty Fink's willingness to let them use the North Walnut Street salon right around closing time for the "Say Yes" session, despite the fact she had already bought the dress elsewhere.
Sherry was already aware the location was a bridal shop, and routinely calls out "Say Yes to the Dress!" when they drive past, Carla noted. This time, Carla told her they were going to stop in just to look around for a change. Upon entering the store, the sisters were greeted by family members-many busily shooting pictures and video with their phones-calling out "Say Yes to the Dress!" and "Surprise, Aunt Sherry!"
Once Sherry was convinced she was really going to get to enact her own version of the show, she happily picked out a couple of dresses to try with the help of her sister and Fink, then disappeared into a dressing room to try them on with her sister's help.
Sitting in chairs around the mirror while Sherry tried on and modeled the three dresses, family members offered appreciative comments ("Sooo pretty!") and helpful advice ("You want to be able to dance") and took more pictures of each dress.
"I look so pretty!" Sherry said while looking in the mirror at the dress she ultimately chose with some heavy encouragement and applause from family.
"She'll remember this for the rest of her life," Stephani Gick commented.