Dear Reader:

Isn’t this orchid beautiful? Susan (Kaitlyn’s Mom) gave it to me as we were all helping straighten things up and get other things out  (late Saturday night) from the Exchange Building on Breach Inlet.

Yesterday as I was straightening things back up (around the house) from the (getting ready and hurrying disarray clutter left behind) I looked around at the relics that would always be the memory keepers of this event for me.

Relics are defined as:  objects of historical value or sentimental interest 

…Starting with the gorgeous orchid now sitting on my dining room table. White orchids stand for beauty, elegance, and innocence. How appropriate for this beautiful wedding! A moment when two souls see the true beauty in each other and decide to experience life, its ups and downs, awkwardness and elegance, innocence and corruption together for the rest of their lives.

Then there is the itinerary/program, along with the koozies supplying dates and names to this beautiful day. Important to have the date handy when the memory fades.

It is time to place Cinderella’s “gown” back in the closet with all the accessories intact. Perhaps one day…who knows…my prince will come…or better yet the lottery announcer will call. 🙂

I didn’t have glass slippers but I did have “gold” flats. They will probably see more “action” than the other sentimental relics from Tommy and Kaitlyn’s wedding.

The most important relics, of course, will come from the memory and heart, in the form of laughter and shared voices, where the wedding will dwell for as long as I live.

I have decided that I have a “little” suggestion for God. When we are born I think we should all get 10 “Time Out” free passes. So when we have an event that affects us immensely- good, bad, or sad- we have 24 hours of “free time” (not clock or calendar time) but magical disappearing time in order to ingest the moment and then return to chronological time without missing the day/night at all. Just a suggestion God from one of your crazier “children.”

Maybe it is because I am getting older but I want more time to “process” the important moments in my life…to think about them and then place them wisely in the best location in my memory box…a place where I can retrieve them easily in a moment’s notice.

While I have been on my own personal wedding “time out”… the garden hasn’t and yesterday it surprised me with all the “living” “growing” and “blooming” it has accomplished during my wedding and post-wedding R&R.

.Anne texted Sunday evening and suggested lunch yesterday which placed us at Continental Corner laughing and catching up. So I got to place another circle on my calendar…great way to start the day and get back in the “groove.”

So until tomorrow: Kaitlyn had a memory table for photos and sayings by loved ones who have passed on. On the wooden plaque it said: ” We know you would be here if heaven weren’t so far away.”

Isn’t it wonderful that a part of our loved ones who passed on still live in the generations alive now? Life is amazing that way!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Today Tommy and Kaitlyn leave for Ireland…if all goes as planned they will be boarding their plane this evening in New York and arriving in Dublin, Ireland in the “Top of the morning” Wednesday. Safe travels Tommy and Kaitlyn. Godspeed!

“May the road rise to greet you ( and remind you to drive on the left side of the road.”)

P.S. Let me know when you place your feet on Irish soil…knowing you got there safe and sound is very important to mothers

The ” boys” have gone to Chattanooga with Butch and Susan to “vacation” until Tommy and Kaitlyn get back home!

When my brother, Ben, left Sunday he stopped by his son Lee and his wife Vikki’s home to see his little namesake Rhodes  Benjamin who is adorable…soon to be 8 months. Rhodes is too precious.