Dear Reader:

For once in my life…I actually timed watching the royal wedding perfectly…accidentally. Nature called around 6:30 Saturday morning…waking me up…and just as I was about to fall back in bed some sleepy neuron remembered the royal wedding.

I grabbed pinkie (robe) and my big white pillow as I plopped on the sofa and turned on the television. Perfect timing! The cars were heading to St. George Chapel and Meghan was getting out before I could barely get my eyes focused. For the next four hours I lay there glued to the television…taking in all the pomp and pageantry.

Don’t royal weddings bring out the little ‘wanna be’ princess still inside us from our childhoods…even though our adult minds are thinking about all the challenges that go with that life style and societal expectations?

I thought the most beautiful scene of Meghan was as she entered the chapel (on her own) followed in suit by the adorable children…the light from outside shone on her and by walking half the distance to the alter alone…the beauty of that moment was only intensified.

If anyone hadn’t felt the love before the wedding message was delivered by Bishop Michael Bruce Curry (The Power of Love)…they sure did afterwards. I doubt if that old chapel had felt that much passion in a long time. Everything uttered in this soul-stirring message was about love…the power of it, unconditional love, and the mandate by God to live that love.

*(Bishop Michael Bruce Curry had already made history before the wedding -he was previously from the Diocese of North Carolina…before Chicago-and the first African-American to serve as the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.)

I really ‘felt the love’ when he quoted lines from my favorite African-American spiritual…”There is a Balm in Gilead.” *I remember I asked Carrie to sing it at mother’s graveside service a cappella. It was mother’s favorite song of all. She loved hearing Carrie sing it that day I have no doubt! We used to talk about it and its haunting melody that seeps into one’s heart and soul while listening to it.

The real connection between the lyrics from There is a Balm in Gilead and Prince Harry and Meghan’s union is their united interest in making a difference in the world…by trying to improve living conditions through medical and food supplies, as well as, education. They appear to really want to provide a “balm in Gilead” to this old world…desperate for it.

Since the term “humdinger” can apply to a remarkable person, place, action or thing…as applied to the royal wedding… it covered every aspect of it. Bishop Michael Bruce Curry was a passionate humdinger, who delivered a humdinger of a message on love, and the actions from this humdinger of a delivery will live on in the memory of all who heard it for a long time. He and the message he brought were (as we in the South would say)” The Real Humdinger!

So until tomorrow…I hope all the celebrations, yesterday, continued to go as smoothly as the wedding and that Queen Elizabeth and later, her son, Charles, ‘put on the dog’ for their grandson/son and his beautiful wife. This is that rare time when “putting on the dog” is an accepted and expected “over the top” “once in a blue moon” occasion!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Musically…The rendition of “Stand by Me” was the humdinger of the wedding.

In full: Moving rendition of Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’ at royal wedding …

My last observation…as I watched people from all around the world stopping in  their everyday lives to excitedly share in this expression of love…I couldn’t help but think how badly the world needs and wants love…and how we are drawn to it like moths to light. Now if there was just some way humanity could find a way to hold on to this most powerful force in the world….Ah! What a wonderful world this would be!

*Dionne Warwick was right….“What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love”

What The World Needs Now Is Love / Dionne Warwick – YouTube

*I know I am a little bias on floral arrangements (prefer simple)….but if I could pour out the contents of my front yard barrel into a beautiful huge gorgeous planter…it would be the orange zinnias, yellow lantana, and creeping jenny that would bring about an ooh or aah….with a dragonfly on top for good luck! Think about it next time royal family!:)