A Good Week

This has been a really good week. For one thing, Mark has made it seven whole days without a trip to the hospital. Hurrah! He hasn’t been feeling all that great, except for yesterday when he “came to” suddenly, just in time for my cousin’s wedding. (More on that below.) Otherwise, he’s been sleeping a lot. But he’s been home, so … we’ll count our blessings!

I enjoyed the 4th so much. We didn’t do anything (besides housework!) during the day, but about 6:30 the kids and I set up “camp” with the Sweeneys in the field behind the high school. Their son, Austin, and his band were just taking the stage. He's not bad for a fifteen-year-old. But ... well, even Pieper leaned over and mentioned that it's kind of funny listening to love song lyrics written by someone who has never had a serious girlfriend. But it was fun to watch, and he has great guts getting up on stage like that. And he has a definite passion for the music, which I think will carry him a long ways over time, with the amount of dedication he pours into it. After he was done doing his thang, another guy (a grown man) came up on stage that I really didn't care for at all. His music was ... (shrug). And his lyrics were often so cliche. It was boring. But the next group up was a bunch of high schoolers again. They played jazz, and ... wow! I absolutely ate them up! The trombone player, a redhead who must have been about 16, just brought out the "spirit" of the evening, for the first time. I would have been content to listen to him all evening. But there were others, equally good. Austin was up on stage for the last guy and got to do two or three guitar solos, which he pulled off quite well.

But it wasn’t just the music that made the night. It was so much fun to sit and watch people. A breeze had come up so that even though we were in the sun, we were reasonably comfortable. We ate: KFC, pasta salad, caramel apple pie. Mm-m! More and more kids came, and glombed together, as kids will do. Someone was selling bubbles, so for awhile there was a group of them blowing and chasing bubbles. And then someone brought out one of those huge rubber balls, and a whole pack of kids ran back and forth (and back and forth) in front of the stage, playing keep away (although who they were trying to keep it away from is anybody's guess!). And then a few people got up and danced, although when I tried, Kaitlyn was mortified and ordered me to sit down! And then, right before the fireworks, a 10-year-old kid got up and sang the national anthem and got the most rousing applause of the night. And then ... the fireworks! Awesome.

I realized last night as I lay there on the blanket, my head pillowed on my purse, with my kids and good friends around me, delicious food in my belly, hours of music in my veins, and now the sky, all lit up ... I was completely, totally happy. It was weird. It wasn't like a giddy kind of high, at all. It was just a deep, deep realization that THIS is happiness, being completely in the moment, absorbing all the tastes and textures and sounds, all the affection and laughter of both strangers and friends ... just a perfectly peaceful letting-go ...

Thursday was again unremarkable, except that I got to check out the Farmer’s Market while Alex was at Summer Fun at the library. That was pretty neat! I’m going to have to go there on a regular basis from now on.

Friday, I finally got to spend some time with Andrea. She’s been moving and so incredibly busy that, although I’ve seen her a few times, we haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk for several weeks. I have lots of friends that I enjoy, but if I don’t see them for weeks, then … okay. But I have only a few like Andrea, where lack of contact leads to a sort of parched feeling, like I’m missing out on something vital. It was great to sit and “drink” with her again!

In the evening, I took the boys to the first of the summer’s open air family movie nights at the Baptist Church. Alex roasted a hot dog over the fire, and we all had popcorn (all provided free of charge to anyone who wants to come). Then we sat in our portable chairs, all wrapped up in blankets, and watched Charlotte’s Web. Good times.

Yesterday was my cousin Luke’s wedding. It was lovely. It was outside... and HOT! (That part wasn't so lovely.) They had the ceremony on the side of a hill out in the middle of nowhere. I literally had to trample down weeds so that I could take my seat on the makeshift bench I'd been ushered, too. And after the ceremony, my dad (who had performed the wedding) announced that anyone who let their kids roam outside of the ribbonned off area did so at their own risk, that there was a LOT of poison oak all over the place. It was ... rugged, to say the least! And we were right in the mid-afternoon sun. I could feel the sweat trickling inside my shirt. Uck! I hate that feeling. And Brendan was bored and crabby and restless and ... Okay, so the ceremony was not fun--for those of us watching! But the view off the field/forest/mountain (in that order) was astounding. And the kiss ... It was SO sweet! Luke is TALL, like Mark. Kim is tiny. At the very end, when Dad announced that Luke could kiss the bride, instead of making her stretch up to reach him, he knelt down! She could easily reach him that way, and you could hear the whole crowd kind of give a collective moan/sigh, like ... "Oh, my gosh. He is SO sweet to her." And the thing is ... he IS! It wasn't just for show. He is SO good to her.

We had to walk about a quarter mile to get to the reception area in a grove of trees. (They had shuttles for those who couldn't make the walk, but Mark refused. After being horribly ill for 13 out of the last 14 days, he was remarkably bouncy today. I NEVER know what to expect with that boy!) Anyway, we filled our plates, chatted with people ... (brother) Mark and Joellen sat with us, and my Texas cousins came over eventually and we had a good time, just talking and laughing.

Oh, and then ... a little funny note. Luke and Kim got up to cut the cake. In the sudden silence that fell as everyone was watching them, Alex said, none too quietly, "Well, at least they're not cutting the cheese!" Ah, my dear, charming son ...!

They had dancing--just a tiny little makeshift floor in the middle of the grove. They played a song that Luke had composed and sung just for that moment, and it was SO sweet.

I got Mark to dance with me. He has NEVER danced with me before. When he balked, I said, "You know, just ONCE in our marriage, I'd like to dance with my husband." I was pleasantly surprised when he followed me to the dance floor. He clearly wasn't comfortable, but he stuck around for most of the song. When we got back to our table, he said, "There. That ought to hold you for another 15 years." Ah, I married such a romantic ...

What else? Not much, really. Instead of confetti or rice or anything like that, they threw those little "helicopters" that come off trees. And Kim's gorgeous (but quite simple) dress was pinned up in the back with three purple buttons. They looked like rosebuds, but if you got up close, you could tell that they were hippos. Apparently, she had told her mom when she was 7 years old that she wanted those buttons on her wedding dress, and her mom had saved them all these years.

It’s hard to explain the feelings that I had yesterday. I long ago gave up any fairy tale notions I entertained about love and marriage, once upon a time. Reality is … just not like that! But Luke and Kim are such wonderful people, and their love is clearly genuine, and I just felt …content, I guess. I felt like despite life’s inevitable challenges, these two will be more happy than not over the years to come.