It went well!
Well over a hundred guests.
Groomsmen in white, bridesmaids in green--groom in green, bride in white--very thought out.
They're a great couple and their families were thrilled.
I kept it short but our musician did a great job before and during and after.
God love K and C--may their lives be full of wonder.
(But I'm glad I mostly go to Milton--30 miles away--on Sunday. The traffic the last two days through Waterbury was horrific!)
I'll be leaving in half-hour or so to go to Milton for a wedding rehearsal.
Back years ago at St. John's, Waterbury, I did lots of weddings.
This is my first one in several years.
There's something encouraging about weddings--two people setting off on a journey of a life-time.
However, not all of them end up that way.
I like K. and C., who are getting married. I did their pre-marriage counseling and came to admire them both.
I'll bless their vows and pray God that it goes for them as it has for me and Bern--decades of love, change and adventure.
Best of luck, K and C!
A few months ago, Bern thought I was drinking too much wine and asked me to stop.
She may have been right or wrong--I'm not sure--but I stopped.
Since then I drink 6 cans of Polar Ginger Ale a day.
I may have become a 'gingeraleaholic' for all I know.
But I love ginger ale--but only Polar when I can find it or Bern can.
Most times the bottom shelf of our refrigerator is full of it.
Have a Polar Ginger Ale on me....
I don't know if it has to do with growing old or something else, but I have become frantic about having things straight.
Scatter rugs most of all. We have lots of them and I'm constantly moving them around to look right.
I'm rigid about having things straight.
I've also started counting stuff: how many people are in church or on the street, how many books are on the table, even how many steps I take to get from the house to the car.
I'm always saying to myself, "Stop Counting!"
But it doesn't work.
Next I'll be counting how many times I say "Stop Counting!" to myself.
Both these things are driving me a little nuts.
But I was 'a little nuts' already, so it won't hurt....
Church was great! The head of the Torrington Soup Kitchen was our speaker. Michael and I tried to find a gospel hymn having to do with 'eating' and the best we came up with was "Let us break bread together on our knees", which was fine.
Everybody--including our guest--received communion. That doesn't happen often--there are always a few who don't come forward.
But that has nothing to do with why I'm an idiot.
I went to the grocery store to get small crossants (excuse my spelling--I'm a spelling idiot too). I got them at Stop and Shop, where they are available--not at Big Y where I go always. Bern and I go to different stores!
When I came out I left my cane on my shopping cart and didn't realize it until I was home and reached for it. I don't need it much, which is why I forgot it!
So, I raced back and lo and behold, the cart and cane were where I left them.
I was as over-joyed as an idiot like me can be....
So, I have this tooth in a plastic thing that fits over 6 or 7 teeth and holds the tooth in the space where I will--some day....--get an implant.
I dropped it in the kitchen sink one day and couldn't get it out of the garbage disposal.
Bern got it out.
Then today I dropped it in our downstairs bathroom, which is tiny, but it went behind the toilet and I couldn't get it.
Bern got it for me.
I have a tooth I wouldn't have twice over if it wasn't for Bern.
Could she be the tooth fairy???
Today I was walking downstairs from my office and I told myself, "really look at what you're seeing".
All over our house, where we have lived for over three decades, there are things that give me joy.
*pictures Bern created for me
*photos of grandchildren
*pictures of both our children't marriages (which I preformed!)
*nick-nacks that go back years
*furniture that has held me for decades
*Books I read and grew from years ago
*plates from places in West Virginia where we both grew up
*plants I don't know the names of but which Bern lovingly cultivates
*rugs from the past
*a bench from my childhood
I could go on and on and then go outside and tell you about the wonders of nature on our property, but I'll stop there.
Here's what to do: decide to take a stroll around your home or your neighborhood and actively appreciate what life gives you.
It's well worth a try....
