Thursday, September 26, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
The Wedding That Followed Murphy’s Law
“What store are your flowers and cake coming from?” asked the replacement caterer/wedding planner for Homeland Stores Inc. Homeland Stores was also where Sandra just happened to work as a pharmacist.
“Store number 888. Don’t you have a record of that? You have done this before?” Sandra states in a very huffy mood.
“Oh yes. Of course I have. Yes, Yes. I see it here right now. Don’t worry Sandra everything will be perfect.” said the replacement.
August 21, 1993 rolls around. Sandra is at the church early, as all brides usually are, getting ready. Her hairdresser was doing her hair and makeup when the door open and the planner steps in. “Sandra, do you know what store is doing your cake and flowers?”
“It is 888 but shouldn’t you know that? Is everything going as planned? Will the cake be here and the flowers? Is my wedding going to come off as planned? What kind of a planner are you? ##########. Do you offer this kind of service to our customers?” Sandra belts out.
The hairdresser says, “Sandra your make up is perfect don’t start sweating…or get to excited. It will all come together I promise.” Sandra chills at this point thankful for such a person as Melissa. Melissa then starts on Sandra’s hair.
About an hour before the wedding the flowers arrive. Pictures are being taken. The cake has not arrived. The planner tells Sandra it will be here. “Sandra we have one small problem. Where are your toasting glasses? It was your responsibility to furnish them.”
Sandra starts to turn red; again Melissa steps in “Twila and I will get this one. If you mess up my makeup job I will kill you. Do you understand?” Melissa goes to the local mall and buys some toasting glasses.
The pictures and wedding itself go off without much of a hitch. Of course there is the normal amount of nervousness everyone is feeling. At least the Bride and Groom never noticed the little flower girl that had to be taken to the bathroom in the middle of the ceremony.
As it comes time for the reception, the couple enters the church gym. Sandra takes one look at the cake and sees a leaning tower. The cake is crooked and looks like part of it has fallen and not baked well. Tina, Sandra’s best friend, sees Sandra’s eyes. Tina knows she had better keep Sandra away from the planner.
The cake was not the only thing that went wrong. In the end Sandra got a refund for the whole affair. Really though who noticed? Sandra and only a few of those in the wedding party were aware of the flaws that took place that day. Many will talk for years about the cute little flower girl that had to go potty in the middle of the ceremony. Most remember the guitar player and the photographer. If you asked any guest if they liked the spread set before them they respond that it was quite delightful. Even though this may have been The Wedding That Followed Murphy’s Law, the marriage was blessed by God that day. Joy can come in the middle of chaos if those that want to see joy see it.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Gilligan's Lake
Becky, my best friend then at the age of thirteen and still at the age of forty-nine, made the sign up to go full throttle. I was ready too. Twila punched it. An old boat but it had some get-up-and-go. It served its purpose.
Dad and mom were not rich but they always seemed to keep us in food and a little extra in fun. They were on the beach at the campsite. Twas the weekend, which meant camping at Lake Thunderbird, also known as Dirtybird because of the clay mud in the lake bed that gave it the red appearance and went home with you on your swimsuit.
The sun was shining. Plenty of boats were out. It was a nice weekend at the lake. Becky and I were going in and out of the wake jumping back and forth. The sky seemed to be getting darker in increments. The wind picked up. This meant the waves inside the wake of the boat and just out were getting picker. We wove in and out giving each other high five’s. After all we were in a rite of passage. Thirteen is a special year for any person. This is the year one sets out on the journey of learning how to be an adult by experimenting in the teenage years.
Finally the waves were too high and clouds too dark. Rain poured down. Where were our parents? We had begged them to let us go skiing all day by ourselves, now we just wanted dad to be in the boat to take the lead. He was up on shore drinking and having a great time. Mom was on shore going crazy to the max worrying when she didn’t have to. Mom would worry if we had a splinter in our finger. Somewhere in the middle would be nice.
Twila was level headed enough but Becky and I were scared as could be. The other person in the boat was Mike. He thought himself a help but not really. In the final minutes we looked like the opening to Gilligan’s Isle. The part where it is raining and the Skipper and Gilligan are at the wheel; waves up to the boat tossing it around and rain coming down. It took us about one and a half hours to make it back to camp when normally this was a five minute ride.
As soon as we pull up to shore the sun smiles out of the clouds. The black out by the sun has vanished as if it were the end of the month and it were your bank account. Pulling into shore with a boat is the wrong move if you are a kid. That ends your turn, at least for a few hours up to four at the max. So this is a storm that I will always remember because of the harsh change in weather and having to give up the boat right after learning how to ski on one ski. Also, I remember getting to ski so much with my best friend.
When returned home from the weekend, we discovered there had been two active tornados in the area of the lake. It should have made me respect tornados but it took much longer for it sink in to my stubborn brain.