So today is the 232nd birthday of the United States Marine Corps. It is also the 32nd anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And yes, it would have been my sixth wedding anniversary.
Let me tell you what’s happening in this picture.
Sarah’s godmother, Anne Louise, performed the second reading, from 1 Corinthians: “The greatest of these is love.” While she was reading, Father Murphy sat down in a chair in an alcove next to the altar. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. Was he praying?
Anne Louise finished the reading. She stepped down from the dais and took her seat.
There was silence. Father Murphy didn’t move.
In the picture, Sarah is looking at me and whispering through her smile, “Honey? Ut the hell do we do now?”
I was trying hard not to laugh. Without moving my lips, I murmured, “I think it’s the best man’s responsibility to wake up the priest.”
Luckily, the organist was on the ball. He played a little filler music, maybe goosed the volume just a little on the coda, and Father Murphy woke up and continued with the ceremony.
I’ll never know if he was really asleep, or just deep in meditation. But this picture always makes me smile.
You know, I forget LOADS of stuff (my brain only seems to have the capacity to remember a very finite amount of “life” information, so only picks certain things to remember) and yet I remember so very much about your wedding day. I mean the whole day, not just your wedding. I remember shopping in the morning at Sprawl-Mart, the fact that I had my nails done and how weird they felt, the quality of light on the drive to Salem, where I sat in the church, etc. Swiping a security pass at the Peabody (ha!)
I couldn’t see anything of the ceremony, though. When I first saw this picture this morning I thought, “what a happy, wonderful smile…both of you!”
Now, as you explain, I feel like a moron for not seeing what was going on, because I can *totally* see that Sarah’s speaking through her teeth and you’re trying not to laugh. Your hands are even clenched!
Derby Studios FTW.
That picture is wonderful. What a great story and memory. The picture makes me smile too.
Oh, yeah, he was snoozing. The little BLURP of the organist was classic.
Great story Dave! I wish I could have made it. A special thanks for the picture. I miss Sarah’s beautiful smile and that special sparkle in her eye and seeing the picture definitely made me smile, especially hearing the story!