Well, the wedding went off without a hitch! My son is now a married man, and I now officially have another daughter! I can't believe it's all over with so quickly. Family came from out of town and are already back home in far-off states. My daughter left to go back east today (sniff) and I had to tearfully say goodbye to her again. I hate goodbyes and wish we all could live in one city together. But life takes us different places and everyone has their lives to live.
The service was so pretty and went so well for their being no rehearsal. Everyone was on time, the weather cooperated, not too warm, not cold at all. Sunshine. All of the bridesmaids looked so beautiful in their peachy-pink just-below-the-knee chiffony dresses. There were four (one being our daughter Mary who looked so pretty, as usual). The other girls were very pretty too, and looked so happy for their friend. The groomsmen were all very handsome in their tuxedos and pink ties and gray vests. Our oldest son Jason was a groomsman and nice to see him all spiffied up. Nice to see all the guys spiffied up, actually, including my hubby who has only had a tuxedo on ONE other time in our 33 years of marriage, and the first time was to our wedding in 1975! So everyone was shocked to see Mr. Sport Coat in formal attire.
Whitney and Jeff make a beautiful couple. Jeff looked very tall and handsome . . . Whitney made a gorgeous bride...her dress was very stunning..the little rhinestones in the flower embroidery twinkled. The tears of happiness in her eyes glistened with the reflections of candlelight. Everyone said afterwards how they could see it in her eyes how much she loves Jeff and how much Jeff loves her The way they look at each other made everyone weepy...lots of happy sniffling. I had a reading to do and actually made it through without choking up too much, and Whitney's very handsome brother did another reading. They exchanged their vows which really had everyone pulling out the Kleenex, and the Grandmas presented the rings, and then the Apache Wedding Blessing and all was done...they are now Mr & Mrs!
The reception was a blast. The dinner was good...slow being served, but that was okay. Better than a rushy meal. There was a wedding toast by the best man, and then little speeches here and there. They asked Jon to say something last minute and I get a bit nervous when he gets up to speak because you never know what is going to come out of his mouth! He did fine though...but when saying something about joining families he included his and then Whitney's family but forgot to mention MY family...he realized it after the fact, when it was too late to fix it...but oh well. I am glad they didn't call on me to improv...I would have passed out. I had my speech planned but absolutely suck at improv. So, without having anything prepared, he did good.
The dancing part was the most fun...Jeff has no inhibitions about dancing and was doing the Night at the Roxbury "shoulder shake" to everyone, even going up to the photographer and trying to dance with him. It was a riot. Then all the guys were on the floor doing the head thing. Once in awhile when something Jeff and Whitney heard a song they wanted to sing and dance with each other they would seek each other out, run up to each other and start jammin' out. It's so cute how they are so "connected".
We were all there till Holiday Inn threw us out. It went by too fast. I could have partied all night and forgot all about my gout foot, my aches and pains were all gone for that one wonderful day. And I really don't feel too bad afterwards, either. Maybe it's the happiness.
To Jeff and Whitney...CHEERS TO A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE TOGETHER!
Well, tomorrow is the big day when Jeff and Whitney finally get married. It's been a whirlwind of a weekend. Today was the picnic...they had a picnic instead of a rehearsal dinner to get all the families together and meet. Whitney's parents and brother and his fiancee came from New York and the rest of her family came from Pennsylvania. Then all of her friends are from out of town. Jon's brother and his wife and three grown sons came, too. No one from my family could make it, but our good friends Kim and Bob came, and the kids old music teacher, Tim came. Jeff's friends were also there. It was a really fun time.
Whitney's family are all really nice and down-to-earth people. I love her Grandma...and she has an uncle who is really funny. I forget his name now...I think it was Uncle Bud.
The sun was shining, we had lots and lots of food left over. Lots to drink, and the guys played basketball and a bit of football. Jon's brother fell down and we all are worried about him. He is 73 and has injured his back in a fall already once this year. Hopefully he will be able to walk in the morning. And even more important, hope he can survive the trip home without too much pain.
Well, time for bed because tomorrow is going to be a really long, long day.
This is a photo of the chapel where our son and his fiancee are getting married. It's not a church. It's not even denominational. It's for all denominations, faiths, non-faiths. Just a cute little place in the woods surrounded by trees and flowers. Just what they were looking for. And just enough church "feel" to make those feel comfortable who think that is important.
Five more days (if you don't count tonight) till wedding time. Tomorrow morning Whitney and I go to Ohare to pick up my daughter (that should be interesting during morning rush!) It will be so good to see her again. We haven't seen her since August!
Most everything is done. I really didn't have to do anything. They are taking care of everything themselves. The only thing I have to do now is go buy a pair of shoes (hopefully I can find something comfy), and I have to type up what I am going to read. I want to put it in a special frame or folder for them to keep.
I am still having sweats from the Prednisone. I wish I wasn't on this during the wedding. It causes irregular heartbeats off and on, and then the profuse sweating. I hate it. But I like the way it makes everything else feel better. So it's one of those love-hate kind of things.
So...this time next week our son will be a married man for nearly two days already. Tempest Fugit!
Our son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law's wedding is less than two weeks away! We are all getting so excited. Everything is pretty well set, all arrangements made, we all have our fancy clothes. Responses are in! There are so many coming from out of state since Whitney isn't from here. Her parents are coming from New York, others coming from Pennsylvania and other places. All of her friends are coming in from out of state. We have several relatives coming in from other states, as well, including our daughter who will be flying in a week early and she will be here for a whole week! We haven't seen her since last August and I think when she steps off that plane I won't be able to stop hugging her for a long, long time! I miss her so much!
Good things about weddings is that they are an excuse for family reunions. Too bad people don't make time for gatherings like this more often. Time goes by too fast and before you know it, there are some who are no longer here who we wish we had made the time to visit with again. Time goes by so fast, and it's as if we are all on some kind of giant conveyor belt, some of us fall off before we get to the end, but we all eventually get to the end and fall off. Ok...now I better stop being so morbid...this is supposed to be HAPPY TIME! I am just a bit sentimental right now because my middle son is actually tying the knots. I knew he would be the first. He is just that way. He wanted it and spent a lot of time and effort looking for "the one." But his looking isn't what found him his bride...our daughter did. She met Whitney at a music festival and knew right off the bat that this girl was the one for Jeff. And she was right!
My gout is finally settling down thanks to a new rheumatologist and lots and lots of Prednisone. I hate how it makes me sweat, but I am not stopping it this time because I want to dance at this wedding dammit! And I am determined to do just that! I haven't been able to drive, so have to rely on hubby to drive me around, and he has been very good about that. I haven't been able to get to the store to do any shopping and I NEED to get some new knee high nylons and some kind of comfortable shoes that won't squeeze the hell out of my gout toe joint all night. So, hopefully this week.
I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the video and this was also a segment on Good Morning America. I had a couple of Beta fish and I swore they had personalities and people thought I was nuts. But the first one I had had a very calm temperament and was very easy going, lazy and when I took him out to put him in bowl to clean his vase he was very patient and didn't move much. But the second Beta fish I had was totally opposite in personality. He was very impatient, would get bored and flip around in the vase, splashing water and like he was demanding attention from someone. When I would take him out to put him in a bowl it was nearly impossible to catch him in the net, and he was so pissed off to be placed in a bowl I was worried he would toss himself out of it. Then once he was placed back into the vase, he would swim with violent jerks in a way there was no mistaking he was quite angry about the whole ordeal and took him several minutes to get over it. I wonder if Beta fish can be trained to do what this goldfish can do.
Today is our son, Jeff's 28th birthday! Too bad he had to work today. But Sunday we will have cake, and I have a present for him. Mom's never stop doing those things.
I love to write, read, paint, draw, take photos, listen to music, travel, and stargaze. If I could live my life over again I would be an astronomer.
“Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.
Arthur C. Clarke
Well, the wedding went off without a hitch! My son is now a married man, and I now officially have another daughter! I can't believe it's all over with so quickly. Family came from out of town and are already back home in far-off states. My daughter left to go back east today (sniff) and I had to tearfully say goodbye to her again. I hate goodbyes and wish we all could live in one city together. But life takes us different places and everyone has their lives to live.
