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At Last – Once More

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I worked a wedding on Saturday at the golf club – and have been tired ever since!

It’s not easy to work from 3pm till 1am (I was lucky enough to leave at that time) and then be back at work for 11 the next morning (later?). I dunno about you, but when I work so late, I can’t just hit the hay and sleep. A couple of beers and a chat with my buddy, B, who was still up, and I finally closed my eyes at 3-something.

Been trying to catch up ever since. My inner clock is a tad wacked.

Anyhoo, I digress (surprise, surprise). The wedding was between a beautiful Egyptian and her handsome Irishman. The bridesmaids wore gorgeous emerald green dresses of varying styles – because this bride knows that not all women can wear the same style! The groomsmen were all tall and dashing in their matching tuxes (coz guys don’t have the same issues 😉).

150 multi-cultural guests including the rather imposing orthodox priest, mingled about, glasses of bubbles to toast the new couple.

A lovely trio of singer, stand-up bass and piano kept things smooth and jazzy during the meal which looked amazing: mozzaella and heirloom tomato salad, followed by a cream of squash soup, then choice of braised beef, filet mignon or halibut. Dessert was a chocolate and peanut butter bomb.

There was a wedding cake but it got forgotten – taken out solely for “the picture”.

The DJ went to work playing those songs that get played at all weddings, including a few Egyptian pieces that hd me dancing while pouring drinks and shooters.

And then the first dance started. And I stopped, stunned.

Suddenly I realised the date and that exactly 17 years ago, Mick and I were dancing to the same tune.

 

 

78 thoughts on “At Last – Once More”

  5. Oh, Dale! No wonder … My heart reached out to you — could you feel it? Our bodies are little time-keepers, aren’t they? Anniversaries – of good things and of difficult things, but especially of those sneaky things that mix them both – tend to lay dormant and yet slurp up some of our energy even when we don’t know why we’re tired/irritable/weepy/on-edge/dreamy/flighty/sentimental … until, seemingly out of the blue, something triggers an understanding. And it is … whoa!
    Like this one.
    No wonder, dear one, no wonder.
    Sending hugs, Na’ama

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Mark. And it’s funny. It doesn’t make me sad but at the same time, there is a wistfulness, I guess.
      I accept those major, massive, incredible hugs with warm heart.

      Liked by 1 person

      • That’s just it, though. There doesn’t have to be sadness for something to be real and to tug at one’s heart. Wistfulness may just be more powerful than sadness.

        Who knows? Maybe I just had one too many beers with my tacos tonight.

        I’ve written about my friend who died at the age of 30, almost 25 years ago now. While I occasionally still feel sad about that, what I really feel is, what you say, wistfulness. At the things that have been lost since then, the conversations that never happened, the things never shared. Sometimes that can be really difficult and sometimes it’s just a memory. A feeling. A … something.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Oh! Your last line–made me catch my breath and swallow a lump in my throat. Wow. I’m glad though that you had so many positive things to say about the wedding. I mean what if they had been obnoxious jerks and then danced to the song–it just seems like it would have been worse, you know? This way it’s like you can wish them much happiness in light of the happiness you had with Mick.
    BTW–both of my daughters let bridesmaids pick colors/styles of dresses, and younger daughter was very conscious of cost and choose short dresses that they could wear again.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Oh! That’s what I should have written instead of stopped. I should have said I caught my breath. Damn 😉
      I didn’t want it to be just about the coincidence. And yes, had they been a bunch of jerks that would have spoiled the whole thing. And I told them the next day when they came to pick up some of their decorations.
      And your daughters are cool. But I would expect no less having been raised by you!

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      Thank you for your love and hugs. I amazingly remained dry-eyed throughout… course I was busy at the bar at the same time 😉

      Shalom and lotsa love and return hugs,

      Dale

      Like

    • Thank you, Peter. It is a fantastic memory – one of many. And no, I am sure it is far from the last! I consider myself lucky to have so many (even while I curse him for leaving this earth so soon).

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Dale,

    When two people know the difference between for right now and forever, this is what comes of it. It’s what you two achieved seventeen years ago when you took the vows that made you not a some time thing, but a forever after story. And it’s beautiful in its implicit purpose, and it’s the kind of thing you can always hold in your heart.

    I love when you write of these moments with Mick. Because they speak to what matters most of all. They speak to the peace of mind and the songs of a heart. And for that one moment on Saturday, you understood what it all means all over again. Thanks to a song that came to you like a message in a bottle. Seventeen years worth of passage into the forever after.

    Beautiful.

    Love and Etta,

    Marco

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marco,

      I always know when you start with my name that this has touched you on a deeper level. I love that.

      We did do that – even if it took us seven years to take those vows officially, we had unofficially taken them earlier. This was the day we shared it with our loved ones.

      I know you do. And yes, for that moment on Saturday, I felt the flood sweep over me, then wash away, knowing there will forever be little moments that will come and go. Is it weird I take comfort in that?

      Love and Etta and beautiful memories,

      Dale

      Liked by 1 person

  24. What a truly delectable post! I love your play on words for the blog title, Dale. It was wonderful how you closed the circle of this by attaching it to your personal life. Oh, and my Emeraude character would adore the bridesmaid dresses. Hugs on the wing.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Weddings and jass. That be good voodoo magic. In life and love, much of it is hard wired. That night, a wedding, same song. Coincidence not. Bon Dieu. That’s powerful shutfffs.

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