All Propped Up and Nowhere to Go....

Tis the season after all! June.
The month for brides, beautiful landscapes and flowers!

And, if ya over-do it on either event- you're gonna pay the price. My expense in this? Three days minimum on the sofa. While my muscles and adrenaline are still at a high-peak - it's hard to make the brain slow down! I've just got so many ideas swirling around- why is it that levels of creativity and inspirations avalanche when the rest of the body can't participate? Thankfully- the lap-top has begun to work again and I can finally surf in some comfort! Can't edit photos from here- but, I can write. I'd much rather be playing artist with paint and ink, though!!

The reason for confinement this time? Though my yard desperately needs some hedge-trimming and I'd sworn that it was to be the next "big" project- a friend and a wedding took "the cake"- haha. I just hope the city doesn't decide to fine me for the overgrown privet.

This past weekend was the wedding of a young man (a class-mate of DS's). They are just 20 years old and beginning a new relationship- so young! I couldn't help but look at them and realize that we were at that same age when we were married. Just children! I just can't imagine our parents allowing us to do such a thing while still wet-behind-the-ears! Except of course, that it IS the idealism of youth and the natural progression of growing up (especially if you are Southern) and of a Judeo-Christiam background!

The groom is a personable young-man who has already experienced a lot of growing up during his few years. His parents divorced while he was very young and his mother died in a car accident before he was a teen. Since that time, he has lived here in AR with his grandparents. His bride is a lovely young-woman from a nearby town whom he met at a band contest four years ago and since then, he's only had eyes for her.

They are both very laid-back college students (think budget conscious)- their choices were very simple and they wanted to host the entire event themselves. Being that the best-man's mother, Kim, has been a mother-figure to the groom all these years; she chose to provide the reception food as her gift to the couple. She's very VERY good at hosting these types of events and her husband makes the most delicious of cakes! My part in all this? She's my dearest friend and I'm second best at reading her mind and able to do general flunkie work for the right price (free!). Besides- I have a soft spot for young couples!

Kim has spent hours mapping out, preparing lists and researching the most cost effective (and tasteful) recipes. I love being a guinna pig!! When it came time to set it all up- I figured it would take an hour or two to dress the tables (banquet and seating) and since so much of the food was pre-prepped; I just knew it was gonna be a "piece of cake"! I'm so glad I'm not the one who drew up the master-plan! I would have passed out if I'd actually known the estimated time of each activity required to prepare for an hour long reception! She truly could be an event-coordinator for any major entertainment venue!

We started Friday morning. The wedding was at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. By 6 o'clock Saturday evening, I was TOAST! She tried to give me all the sit-down jobs there were, but I finally cried "uncle" and went directly to my grandmother.

I didn't see much of Mae (or my dog- thanks to some wonderful dog-sitters!) all weekend; but when it was finished... I had to go and thank her again for such a wonderful banquet she and her sister, Clarice, had made for us on our wedding day (almost 25 years ago). I remember knowing at the time that she'd stayed up all night the night before my wedding (it's a tradition in our family that the wedding dress is still being sewed upon until the very last minute!) but, I recalled too- of their tale about going to the grocery store at 3 AM for more chickens for chkn-salad cuz they were just sure they didn't have enough! Amazing to me that we even had markets that were open 24-hours back then or that she had the stamina and energy at that age! I most assuredly come from strong-stock!

Clarice or "Pargie" as our maiden-aunt was known to us- was very sick at this time with pancreatic cancer; she died just a few months later. One of the recollections of that particularly weekend was that she laughed aloud (like we'd not heard her do in months during the treatments) when my mil's friend, Johnnie, joined them in the kitchen while putting out the buffet. I get all weepy when I think of my Pargie- how she was suffering, how much she loved me and my groom (she thought he hung the moon!) and how she was a romantic at heart and wanted nothing but happiness for young-lovers. I'm a lot like her in all those respects!

My! How time flies and how life goes in circles.

To young-newlyweds and to the young-at-heart... may you have a lifetime of happiness.

And as so happens in life- along with the joy comes the saddness. Kim received a phone-call from one of her staff that one of the physical-therapists had been found dead (possibly from natural causes). The woman was our age and has two daughters (one a senior in high school and one a college student) that she has raised as a single-mother and loved gardening. She was well-liked by all her co-workers (this is the fourth recent death in the extended family of the department); her family and the staff need lots of prayers and uplifting.