Right there in the middle of Mom's birthday weekend, Ellie and Caroline elected to have their wedding day. They'd been engaged for at least two years and had no interest in throwing a wedding. Their monetary priorities go to their extensive leisurely traveling habits. They mulled and toiled and loosely planned a May wedding with about 30 guests. That whole covid deal cancelled their plans so they rescheduled to early September with just family and the likes of Brett and I. With no notable place to hold such tiny ceremonies, I had Mom and Dad (read, Dad) volunteer their yard for the 10 minute exchange, so Ellie and Caroline got married about 5 yards over from where Brett and I got married. That makes me smile.
Before you get the pretty wedding photos, let me shock you with this tiny montage of Ellie and I through the years.
We met in Kindergarten - aren't we cute in our little outfits? We became best pals and Ellie abused me all through middle school - ahh the braces and unruly hair. By high school she took to climbing me like a tree and though I never really got in trouble, I was often scolded by proxy because Ellie is a lovable, mischievous cartoon character of a person. Adults always fawned all over her so she had no healthy fear of her elders. She could light a small indoor fire and then charm her way out of any consequences. We had little in common but I loved her scary, wild way of living and she thought I was funny. As adults, she's still extremely good with people and has no fears while I live in silent dread of encountering other humans, but by golly we make each other laugh.
Enter, Caroline. The female Brett. She is principled, ethical, serene, purposeful, and the most well-meaning person you could meet. Caroline will not cut corners or make trouble. Caroline would never start a small indoor fire. I was relived to meet Caroline. Maybe she can keep Ellie out of trouble. Caroline is wonderfully tickled by Ellie's absurdity and Ellie brings some spontaneity to Caroline's diligent endeavoring. When the four us get together, we inevitably pair off. Brett and Caroline take to discussing political ethics while Ellie and I work to see who can make the most realistic farm animal sounds. Later, Ellie and I will present our case for selling it all and living in vans and traveling the county. Brett and Caroline will then ask all those burdensome logistical questions with the faintest of condescending tones and remind us that someone will have to flush out the toilet reserves on a daily basis. "You just think you'd like it," they have both said to each of us. We all just have the best time together.
As the only non-family invited, (and probably only because it was our yard), I surprised them with some big florals and matching but not identical bouquets. I made Ellie's more wild, Carolines more controlled. The irony was lost on them but I keep bragging about my meta-florical genius.
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