Then another and another
May 17th, 2007 by rsm
This coming weekend the lovely blog-daughter is getting married and I think I’m ready for it.
The past weekend was busy with one wedding, and another. The first was the marriage of the “supercouple.” Two people, both recently minted lieutenants who excel at everything they do, found each other.
For some reason they decided to be married in a town in which neither had any real connection, I noticed. I asked around. One of the things, though, is that I can’t seem to get away from certain things. On my way down I came across an accident, fender bender with some broken glass and some crying children. I helped out until the ambulance arrived, but managed to get a little blood on my shirt.
Then once at the wedding some of their friends… well, my friends too… let me know they had a photo presentation ready to show, but they didn’t have any way of showing it. I happened to have a projector in the Jeep. And a laptop. And cabling. But I didn’t have a needed extension cord, so off I went on a trip into the wilds of an unknown rural town, eventually finding a cord at an auto parts store, the only place besides a grocery store still open. I leave town, drive 100 miles and still have to do both medical and audiovisual work.
Of course everything was beautiful, especially the bride and all the bridesmaids. It was an outdoor wedding with perfect weather.
The next day, another wedding, this time with some other friends and very few of the same people present (I cross many “friend” lines and run in a number of social circles.) This time, another outdoor wedding, but it began to rain a couple of hours before the ceremony. And it rained hard.
However, after an hour it went away, the field suddenly cooled, and out came the chairs. And another beautiful ceremony of some wonderful people I feel close to. I had no idea how they were going to pull off the bride’s arrival in the middle of this large field, which was where they first met years before.
No worries. Someone was very creative. The bridal party arrived in a large, covered, horse-drawn carriage. Pretty cool. After the ceremony and the walk through the swords, this couple loaded up together on the carriage and off they went for a while as we enjoyed their reception. Eventually they showed up.
The most heart-wrenching moment: The groom’s mother is confined to a wheelchair now, degenerative disease slowly destroying her muscles. The groom was not about to miss the chance for his dance with his mother. He walked over to her, gently picked her up from her wheelchair, helping her stand, then held her tightly, essentially carrying her for their entire dance. They talked in the middle of the dance floor, isolated from all those around, all the eyes on them unable to overhear their words. The intensity of her face as she whispered in her son’s ears left me trying not to imagine what her words were, reflected in the mist of his eyes. When the song came to an end, he gently placed her back in her chair and held her hand as he knelt next to her, his bride joining them for a moment.
Very nice… I love weddings. Oddly enough all of my siblings have married people they met at weddings.
Perhaps I should start crashing weddings.
I read you and lurk—having found you when you first made a comment that referenced Fort Gordon and your medical experience there—being a Nurse and having lived in that area for several years that caught my interest—I also see we have a few of the same friends—Pixie is near and dear to me as is Hook.
This touched me tonight when you spoke of the last ceremony and how the groom danced with his mother—actually this is what brought me out of my lurking to just say thanks for sharing this—I have Multiple Sclerosis and many years ago when I was diagnosed there was no treatments so one of the most difficult decisions my husband and I ever made was to not become parents as we felt I would not be able to be the type of mother I felt my kids deserved.
Yep this got me—-
Beautiful. Touching. Inspiring. Thank you!