Saturday, August 18, 2007

End of a long day

Two weddings in one day! The first was actually a recap of the original wedding, which occurred two weeks ago, in a brief window of time between the groom's finalized divorce and the bride's next chemo. Today the couple repeated their vows before a group of friends and neighbors outdoors on a sunny spot near their home. Her chemo is behind her for now; she looked lovely in her dress and blonde wig and he was resplendent in a Prince Charlie cutaway coat, kilt, and all the trappings. It was one of those weddings where I felt honored to be included.

The second wedding was four hours later; the wind was blowing and it looked like it was going to rain any minute, but we all managed to put up with goosebumps and wind gusts and a few raindrops and in twenty minutes we were back inside enjoying the refreshments. I had begged off the reception and had headed out to my car when I suddenly realized we hadn't signed any of the marriage papers! So I had to hustle back in, round up the couple and their witnesses (nobody but me had yet remembered that signing the marriage certificate was a must), and we got the papers duly certified. I was a little bit embarrassed. I think two weddings in one day were the problem.

When I got home, I put a stamp on the certificate envelope and hied me off to the post office and the local Chinese place, where I could eat quietly without having to do any more small talk. Next weekend I have only one wedding but on Monday I have a memorial service to prepare for. September brings two more weddings and October 7 is my last one. I think.

Whew! Weddings up the Wazoo indeed. But I do enjoy them, though chatting intelligently with complete strangers at rehearsal dinners and receptions is a little demanding, even for an extrovert.

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