Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady

Thought for the day: In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. [Albert Schweitzer]

Hi-ya. How the heck are ya? Me? I am fan-freaking-tastic!

It's no secret that my inner fire took a bit of a hit when Mike died. Y'all know exactly what I'm talking about, because you've probably experienced similar low spots in your lives. Bottom line, I thought my life was over, too.

I was wrong.

Man, was I ever wrong. 

Enter Larry... that person who rekindled my inner spirit. 

I'm a lot of things, but I'm no fool. On 2/22/22... at 2:22... I married this fantabulous man under a big ol' oak tree in our back yard.

It is no exaggeration to say our joy is even bigger than that tree.

Some of you have asked how we met. Well, we actually met more than 20 years ago, when he, Mike and I all belonged to the same amateur radio club. We all got along famously and shared lots of laughs and conversations together back then, but the real story begins when he sent me a private message via Facebook last May 3. He'd been widowed for nine years and had recently moved back into the area and wanted to see if I'd like to chat on the radio sometime. 

After exchanging a few messages, I agreed to talk on the phone the next day. Oh, we did. We talked... and laughed... for more than two hours. Then we went out to lunch on the 5th... the first time we'd seen each other face-to-face since 2003 or so. From the time I opened the front door and we stood there grinning mirror image grins at each other through the screen door, I was a goner. 

Can you say... instant connection?

 It is inexplicable how much alike we are. I swear, he's a male ME. (Or since he's older, maybe I'm a female HIM.) No matter. We can... and DO... talk about anything and everything. We can... and DO... share the same kind of sense of humor that keeps us on our toes and laughing. Somehow, this wizard of a man sees what's in my heart and knows what I want without me breathing a word about it... sometimes, before I even realize I want it. Then he moves heaven and earth to make whatever I want a reality. It's unbelievable! We spoil each other rotten, have boatloads of fun every day... and every day, we thank our lucky stars that we found each other. That we rescued each other and fanned each other's inner flames and turned them into a conflagration, (A slight exaggeration... our indigestion isn't all that bad...)

Yes. I am lucky. Very very lucky. And I know it.

So is he. (Hey! What am I... chopped liver? HA)

So anyhow, our wedding was low-key, stress-free., and joyous. In other words... perfect. My wonderful son-in-law even wore his kilt for me! WooHOO. And the weather? Perfect. The day was perfect in every way.

As you can see, I wore purple. One of my friends asked me if I was gonna wear white, and I told her no. As Mae West said, I used to be Snow White, but I drifted. So purple seemed more fitting. My mother's favorite poem was When I am Old, I Will Wear Purple. I'm old. We both like purple. So there ya go! 

Too bad you couldn't be there. Gee, if only there were a way to make it feel like you'd been there to share it with us, ya know? What could that be... what could that be? Hmmm, how about an unedited video? Think that'd do the trick? Enjoy. Or not. No skin off my nose either way. HA

The healthiest response to life is joy. [Deepak Chopra]

Man, am I HEALTHY!!! [me]

I believe laughter is a language of God and that we can all live happily ever laughter. [Yakov Smirnoff]

So far, so good! [me] Life is good.

                               Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

 

With This Ring

Thought for the day: For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked.  [Bill Cosby]

As mentioned in the last post, the main reason we went to Maryland last month was to attend our niece's wedding, a delightful, feel-good event. The bride's 13-year-old daughter was almost as emotional about getting a wonderful new Daddy as our niece was to be marrying him.

One of the centerpieces.

Ever hear of a wedding theme? Well, this wedding had one. Lots of red-white-and-blue in evidence, and guests were asked to wear something patriotic, military, or vintage post-WWII. Cool, huh? A couple beautiful love letters written during WWII were read aloud. From the bride's grandfathers. To her grandmothers. What a neat touch, huh? The grandparents' wedding pictures were also on display.

The wedding and reception were held at the VFW hall, and at left is where the wedding party stood during the exchange of vows.

The first Polish wedding tradition took place following the ceremony ... the serving of wine and salted bread. Served to the newlyweds by their mothers, this tradition represents a wish that the couple never know hunger or thirst, and share a long life spiced with happiness.

The next Polish tradition was the removal of the bridal veil by the bride's godmother. Me. Once the veil is removed, it's replaced by a czypek, (chi-pek) a round lace head covering. I was also supposed to lead everyone in a traditional Polish hymn during this time, which I didn't find out about until the reception. Oops. Since I'm only Polish by osmosis, some of the honest-to-goodness Polish ladies went ahead and sang while I fiddled with bobby pins. The hymn is a supplication to the Virgin Mary to guide the bride in the ways of a loving wife. (Pssst! Check out the victory rolls in my hair! Took a lot of practice in the weeks before the wedding, but it turned out pretty darned good, I think. Especially for someone who's as inept with hair as I am. To complete the post WWII look, I wore red lipstick, seamed stockings, and platform shoes. FUN!)

Next comes the strings of tiny dolls, decorated with blue and pink ribbons, that go around the necks of the bride and groom. Pretty obvious what that signifies, huh? These particular strings were used at the wedding reception of the lady standing beside me... a very dear family friend...  more than 60 years ago. The silly hat on the groom's head represents a wish for happiness and laughter in their marriage. (LOOK! It's already working!)

Happy, happy, happy ever after.

The last Polish tradition celebrated is the small dance, or maly taniec. Also known as the apron dance, because someone holds an apron out and collects money in it. People toss a buck or so into the apron (sometimes, verrrrrry tightly folded) to polka with the bride. The last one to claim a dance is the groom, who throws his whole wallet into the apron, and claims his bride forever, to live happily ever after.

How about this? My hubby and I won a lovely bouquet of flowers for being old farts. Well, to be technical, that's not exactly how they put it. It was actually for being married the longest. Our 43rd anniversary was the day before the wedding.

Oh yeah, and if you can believe it, this really old-looking guy came up to us at the reception and claimed to have gone to school with us. HUH! We didn't argue with the delusional old fogy... just smiled, and were very polite while he babbled on about some of the people who really DID go to school with us. Can you imagine? Claimed he knew ME, too. Even said he saw us at our 30th reunion. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor misled guy. Obviously, he has powers, though. By the time we got home to Atlanta, he'd somehow managed to have his name and picture added to our high school yearbook. Even some words addressed to me. I STILL dunno how he did that ...

The secret to a happy marriage: Two times a week, we go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, good food and companionship. She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Fridays.  [Red Skelton]

                             Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.