Here comes the bride

My daughter is getting married this weekend. She is forty, and as I told her and firmly believe, life begins at forty! You finally discover who YOU are after many years of taking car of THEM.

She met him a year ago at her grade school reunion. She and her honey were compatible, laughed a lot and began dating. This is the second marriage for both, and I am convinced it will be their last, because they are so good TO and FOR each other. I am very happy for them and wish many years of blessings, health, happiness and wedded bliss to my baby, Tracey and Dave.

She wanted to be married on the beach in Florida, but that didn't work out, so she and two of her grade school friends went to the beach for their fortieth birthdays in June. One day she and Dave will vacation in Florida, but for now, work calls and the beautiful Bed and Breakfast wedding chapel overlooking a hillside in Branson will be where the wedding takes place on
10-10-10.

One year while Bill and I were vacationing in Florida we sat on the beach and observed three sunset weddings. In all cases the brides and grooms had barefeet. The first was a middle-aged, hispanic couple with a large gathering of family and friends. They were all dressed regally in cultural dresses and shirts. Ah, it was a rainbow of vivid colors, so pretty.

The wedding that stays in the forefront of my mind was a couple maybe in their thrities, surrounded by immediate family. The pastor stood seaside and handed each person a small, dark stone. He asked everyone to imagine the most awful things that could happen in a marriage and told them whisper it onto the stones. Then, he instructed them to toss their worries and cares into the sea. Next, he passed out white stones and asked everyone to whisper a happiness wish and toss it too, with the assurance that God will take care of all of us. It brought tears to my eyes.

Bill, however was engrossed in the other wedding of a very young couple, perhaps still in their teens. The bride wore a white knit bikini with a sheer white beach cover and a veil. The ocean breeze made her long black hair blow and all that gauzey material cling.

Another wedding that made a profound impact on me was my best friend's daughter's outdoor wedding in St. Louis. My best friend had died the year before. The bride left an empty chair up front in honor of her mother. The wedding was a Native American Indian wedding blessing. The minister began, "Bless his/her eyes, so that they may always see the beauty in the other, his/her mouth so that they will speak only kindness" then, the minister took the groom's hands and placed them on the bride's face, and gradually moved them over her body parts and said, "Bless his hands so they will wipe away her tears, kiss her tenderly, hold her gently, feel their baby..." It was simply astounding, but more astonishing was when a beautiful white butterfly flew over them and landed on the empty chair intended for the bride's mom.

My son's wedding, many years ago, still brings a smile when I remember how my mom and dad who were very reserved and quiet, surprised the heck out of all of us at the reception when they got up and jitterbugged. We couldn't believe our eyes. They almost upstaged the bride and groom.

Now, this weekend I will add one more wonderful wedding to my collection of memories and I will post pictures Sunday night.