Oh my goodness it’s may and we have only had two bloc postings. That’s not going to cut it. I have read lately that a typical blog post is about 1,500 words. I don’t know how often I have adhered to that. I usually just pick a topic and write until I get done telling the story. For instance, today I am focused on the fact that it’s Memorial Day weekend. On a weekend I traditionally have driven to Golden’s house to fart around, watch movies, laugh, talk, play games, sleep, eat good food, see her family, sleep, and sometimes go to a book store. Ok most of the time we end up at a bookstore. Sometimes I even buy but mostly I browse. This of course didn’t happen this year but not because me and my partner in crime have had a falling out but because of a very special reason that I’ll talk about in a few minutes. I think she understands, I hope she does. Lord knows I look forward to these long weekends hanging out together and I think she does too. Afterall, when I come into town it’s one of the few reasons her job leaves her along (kind of) for a few days. She also gets someone that can play with Mighty other than herself.
The reason I didn’t make to see them this time is that my youngest nephew got married. I couldn’t imagine missing that not even for Golden. Love her but love him more. Friday was the rehearsal and Saturday was the big day. Today I am exhausted. It’s been a busy few days but I’ve also been sick all week long. It hit me light a freight train on last Saturday and Sunday threw me to the floor. Monday I went to the doc in a box and demanded a steroid shot which they gave me. That was it. Well they did give me cough medicine but it makes me dizzy so I can only take it at night. Tuesday I lost my voice. Wednesday it was gone completely. Thursday I couldn’t even make a sound. I put them on notice, cause I was supposed to read a passage of scripture as part of the service. At that moment I wasn’t sure I’d be able to. Friday I was making a little noise. I didn’t have a lot of volume tho. I tried to not talk very much but as festivities were happening that was harder cause I didn’t want to ignore people. Friday I was squeakey. I really wasn’t sure I could do it. I asked about an understudy. They really wanted me to do it and I really wanted to do it for them. I forged ahead. Prayed to every God I knew that my voice would come back even for that moment alone. My nearly 2 year old niece knows sign language which fascinates me. She can say more, she can say done, she can say thank you, she can say of course hi and bye, but the one I love most is her saying no more. As in I don’t want any more. I used that one a lot on Friday night. Begging people to stop talking to me so I could hold whatever was left for the reading.
Saturday morning came and I had a little more volume but it would come and go. I was readying 1 Corinthians chapter 13 … the one about what love is and what it means … I had been practicing for months. I walked up to the podium opened my mouth and talked. It wasn’t very confident but it was noise. It wasn’t squeaky and it didn’t crack so I call that a win. Immediately after the service my voice was gone again. I was back to a whisper only even the baby asked if I was ok. I was thrilled cause I had just enough juice to show up for two of the most important people in my circle on their biggest day. It was a beautiful service and the couple is leaving for their honeymoon on Monday. I’m so excited for them as they start this new chapter in their lives. At 22 it’s good to have all the important decisions out of the way. . . education . . . marriage … a job …. The rest will fall into place.
My other favorite human … my oldest nephew got married in 2023. His person had already graduated he was still in pharmacy school and they were ready to start their lives. I admit I don’t remember much about that day. I remember her being a lovely bride and him being very handsome in his suit but the details are fuzzy and not just because it’s been 3 years and a lot has happened in that time. Back in 2003, my mom had just gotten out of the hospital, after nearly dying, on Wed before the wedding. We had approval from her doctor that she could go but we needed to watch her. Make sure she was comfortable and as we drove the 3 hours to the service that we stop several times and let her walk around to reduce the opportunity for blood clots. My entire focus on that day was on her. Making sure she was comfortable, making sure she was able to get from point a to b and she did great all day. She was drug allover that church by the photographer and she took every step she was asked to take and more. It took her days to recover but it was a lovely day. Their wedding was in Montgomery, kind of the half way point between his family and hers. It was a cute church, more grand on the outside and more country church on the inside. We drove up on Friday and spent the night thinking that would make less stress on mom. Drove home that night after the wedding, leaving long before the young couple did. Looking back on the pictures I can remember a few things, like them doing communion with us, the ring bearer putting the ring box on his head and twirling around during the service, Andrew was his best man, as McNeil was to him, and McNeil almost losing it when he saw Tylin for the first time. Andrew too lost it seeing his bride come down the aisle. He was overcome with emotion most of the service but was able to do what he needed to do when it was time. I was really proud of him. You could tell how much this moment really meant to him. I am also taken a back by those at that ceremony who couldn’t be at this one for whatever reason. Grandmamma for one was very missed and yet her presence was all over the place. Someone even gave Andrew a pin to wear that had a picture of him and Grandmamma on it and it was a lovely touch.
I am very blessed to have seen them both get to this point. I hope to be at many more milestones over the years to come. Watching McNeil dancing with his nearly 2 year old at Andrew’s wedding is something I’ll never forget. Having Andrew and his bride hunt me down to get a picture with me when there were so many others pulling on them makes me cry thinking about it right now. I’ve always said I loved being part of their everyday world and yesterday was just another example of that. I love being their Aunt it’s by far my favorite title.
So, while I miss my bestie…. I was exactly where I needed to be and I’m sure she understands, if not she will when it’s her nieces getting ready to walk down that aisle postponing all her plans.
Until next time, enjoy your memorial day holiday. Remember what it is about, focus on those who gave everything to allow us the freedom to enjoy it and hopefully at some point throw something on a grill get something cold to drink and talk to your family while it cooks. You will never regret doing that. Trust me.
Marcy (@beaslma)
PS 12,84 words aint bad 😊
