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First Posted: 8/12/2012

This summer marks the 10th anniversary of a 35-year overdue apology I offered in 2002. It also marks the 45th wedding anniversary of Andrea and Joseph McFarland. And all three are tied together.

Let’s start with the apology.

On second thought, let’s start with the reason for the apology.

Mid-way through the summer of 1967, just a month after my high school graduation, I was hired as a part-time sports writer for this newspaper, The Sunday Dispatch. The editor also had me come into the office three afternoons a week to type up all sorts of items: meeting notices, birthdays, engagements, weddings.

Those were the days when almost every bride-to-be made arrangements with a professional photographer for a pre-bridal photo. They would pose in their gowns weeks before the wedding and bring the photos to the newspaper in a sealed envelope. God forbid someone would see the gown before the wedding day. The photos would be published the very day after the wedding

Well, in my enthusiasm, I put a bride’s photo in the Dispatch a week before her wedding.

Everyone at the Dispatch told me later it was a good thing I didn’t work on Mondays because the editor, William Watson Sr., was furious.

By the time I came in on Wednesday, he had settled down. “You know what you did?” he asked and I just nodded. “Listen,” he went on, “there’s not a mistake you can make in this business that someone hasn’t made before you. Don’t make the same one twice.”

He was being awfully kind but I was pretty sure no one had ever made a mistake as bad as mine. Not only did everyone see the bride’s gown but people called her home all day Sunday to apologize for missing the wedding. What a mess.

I was only 17 at the time but I never forgot how bad I felt. It never occurred to me until that summer of 2002, however, that I really needed to tell that to bride. But I did not even know her name.

So I went into the Dispatch archives, pulled out all the newspapers from late summer of 1967 and went through them until I found the same bride’s photo two weeks in a row: Andrea Helen Menichello wed to Joseph Michael McFarland Jr.

I found a number in the phone book, took a deep breath and dialed.

“Mrs. McFarland,” I said, “my name is Ed Ackerman and I owe you an apology.”

After 15 minutes later, all I could think was “this lady is an angel.”

She not only accepted my apology without hesitation, but after telling me she had been happily married for 35 years, said she believed my blunder actually brought her and her husband good luck. “Maybe you should do it more often,” she joked.

When I spoke with her 10 years ago, Mrs. McFarland told me about her 10 – yes, 10 – children. Last week I asked her to catch me up on them and she gladly obliged.

Sean, the oldest, is now 43. He and his wife Jessica and their four children live in Frederick, Maryland, where he is vice president of the Wells Fargo Bank Servicing Technology Group.

Joseph is 42. He and his wife Misty and their five children live in Acworth, Georgia, where he is president of Home Depot’s Western Division. They also have a grandchild.

Michelle, 40, is a special education teacher in Mantua, N.J., where she lives with her husband Steve Galluzzo.

Then come the twins, age 39. Christopher and his wife Tammy have one child and reside in Jessup. He designs wheelchairs. Jonathan lives in California with his wife Melissa and two children. He is a Gunnery Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, currently serving his fourth tour in Afghanistan.

Marry Ellen, 37, and her husband Keith Zona and their three children recently moved to Collierville, Tenn. She is also a special ed teacher.

Maria, 35, her husband Greg White, and their three children live in Pittston. She is a manager at Walmart.

Stephen, 32, is a yoga instructor in San Francisco where he is studying to become a homeopathic doctor. He is also a performer and teacher.

Eric, 31, and his wife Kristen and their child live in Olyphant. He is a general manager at Best Buy in Dickson City.

Finally, there’s Andrea, age 28, whom Mrs. McFarland calls “our little angel.” Andrea was born with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus, but she is “doing fine,” according to her mom and works at Quinn’s Market in Peckville.

Mrs. McFarland said the key to life is simply to have a positive attitude. She also says she has a “deep faith … a really deep faith.”

Not to mention a kind heart. Take it from me.