Tropical Storm Bertha sent rain here last year, the day I moved into my house.  And Hurricane Alicia...well, that was two days before my wedding.

Many times over the years I have heard my friends complain about what went wrong at their weddings.  Each one told of how the flowers, dresses, food or photographs were not perfect.  Or maybe the ceremony did not go as planned.

I would just wait until they had all finished complaining and then describe what it was like to get married in the aftermath of a major hurricane.

Actually the hurricane was the second crisis.  On a Saturday in January 1983, I met with Edith Rousseau at St. George's Episcopal Church in Texas City and booked the church and and parish hall.

The next morning I picked up both the The Galveston Daily News and Texas City Sun to learn that the church had burned down overnight. 

On Aug. 17, 1983, I was shopping on The Strand for clothes to wear on my honeymoon when a store clerk asked me what I was going to do about the hurricane.

I  explained to her that the hurricane was not coming here.  A hurricane ruining my wedding was just unthinkable.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, Aug. 18, Mother Nature proved me wrong.

That morning while others were assessing property damage, the Criss household was frantically assessing whether we would be able to have the wedding at all.

My first instinct was to put the event off for a few months.  It did not seem possible to carry this off in the next 60 hours.

It was dad who insisted that this wedding would go on as planned, that is...as planned that morning.

The power was out all over the county.  Phone lines were down.  My dad drove me all over to check on the people who were providing things or services such as flowers and food and photography.

We made sure that they were all right and still able to do their part for the ceremony or reception.

My best friend, Lisa Porter, and her mother found the lady who owned the dress shop that still had the bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses in it.  The lady was about to leave town.  Mrs. Porter made her go to the shop and give her the dresses. 

The priest who was supposed to conduct the ceremony had gone to Dallas to visit family.  He was not certain he would be able to get back.  My dad arranged for County Judge Ray Holbrook to conduct the ceremony if the priest was not able to make it.  The Rev. Bowles got back just in time to perform the ceremony.

We had planned to have the rehearsal dinner at the Pelican Club in Galveston.  We had to find out if Gaido's would be open and then if we could even cross the Causeway to get there.

My dad tried very hard to make that happen.  He even checked on alternate methods of transportation to the island such as helicopters.

Then he began searching for alternate restaurants on the mainland that would be open and able to accommodate such a large group.  Finally we had to settle for Denny's in Texas City.

My dad had the local radio station KGBC broadcast announcements telling everyone that the wedding was still on.

The power was out at St. Michael's Episcopal Church.  Friends and relatives scrambled to get ice from local hotels and grocery stores for the reception.  An afternoon ceremony became a candlelight ceremony.  

People did come.  Some had to wear casual clothes, even shorts.  Ambassador Bob Krueger even came.  

The wedding did go on.  My parents, bothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all did an extraordinary job of putting a wedding back together in 60 hours.

After the honeymoon my husband and I moved to Austin.  My plans were to not come back to the island until all signs of Hurricane Alicia were gone.  I figured that would be about Thanksgiving.  I did not want to even think about Hurricane Alicia.

Upon arriving in Austin, I began a new job in the Environmental Protection Division of the Attorney General's Office.  On my first day there, on the assistant attorney generals told me that Galveston Island had just been hit by a hurricane and I was to go there and photograph homes along the beach that had been damaged or destroyed.

That is my memory of Hurricane Alicia.

Judge Susan Criss