03.09.16A.D. Part 2

03.09.16A.D. Part 2

I had planned to leave the house at noon for my cousin’s wedding but standing in our local supermarket my husband Paul had just told me over the phone that as he had collected the dog food from the butchers, he’d fallen in the pouring rain slipped in his crocs and he thought he’d broken his hand! The time was 11.55am!

I wasn’t too fazed by that, as I’d made allowances for not leaving at 12, I’d given myself the 2 hour gap to get there but really it would take just an hour and 20 minutes; so all was not lost!

I went to meet Paul near the butchers as he had difficulty holding the bags with the heavy bones. I was NOT happy with him, for recently he’d told me that since they had put the new paving up Town whenever he wore his crocs it was like the pavement was an ice rink! So he’d told me he’d not wear his crocs to Town. Those flaming crocs!!!!! He’d told me people had walked past him there on the wet ground until a man came to his aid, he gave him his hands for him to take hold of but he had no strength to grip onto him. With the man holding under his armpits he was able to get up. He thanked the helpful man.

Back in the car and on the way back home I asked Paul, “Why didn’t you change shoes?” He replied, “I forgot!”

I said to Paul, “its best that you don’t go to the wedding, you’ll just distract from the bride and if your hand is broke, you may need to go to the hospital for an ex-ray.” Paul agreed with me and he said, “As Daniel and Susan isn’t going, then Megan can take my place at the wedding reception.” I replied, “OK, it all seems to have strangely fitted together” So just Megan and I would go.

When we arrived home from Town, I was surprised to see Susan sitting in the living room, I said to her, “Are you going to the wedding?” She replied, “Yes,” I was a bit stunned as she was wearing badly torn jeans, t-shirt and a tiny leather jacket. I asked her, “What time did you get here?” She replied, “11.45.” I asked if Daniel was upstairs getting ready she said, “Yes.”

Earlier in the week of the mini heat wave it was decided by some that those not invited to the wedding meal straight after the wedding, would go to a park and browse around the shops, this way time would go quickly and it would still be a nice day for those waiting for the 730pm reception. But it was raining heavy on the wedding day! Megan was worried and said to me, “Daniel and Susan won’t let me walk around with them, and I’d be on my own.”  This genuinely bothered me, for she isn’t very tall and she’d be in a town she didn’t know and there would be no friends who knew her, so it worked out well that Paul now was no longer going. For Daniel and Susan would have each other.

Well I mentioned I wanted to leave the house at noon, but with all the toing and froing, I left the house 1pm an hour later than I’d planned. Over 2 to 3 days I bought snacks that the 3 kids could eat, between the wedding and the reception; sandwiches, crisps, sausage rolls, pork pies, cans of pop including bottled water and of course sweets!

As I drove off in the heavy rain I said a silent prayer for His protection over us, and remembering Psalm 91 that I’d read that morning, “He will give his Angel charge over us,” I drove off down the road, I was using my mobile phone, the map on there as my sat nav. It would take an hour and 20 minutes to get there! My kids wanted to use the hotspot on my phone; this meant they would be using my internet as they didn’t have any, thus draining my mobile power, and the map too would drain its power, I wasn’t worried as I’d bought a connector that plugged into the cigarette lighter in the car and the other end of it, my phone would charge.

I hate going somewhere new having to cross over into lanes making sure when I cross over the roundabout that I’m in the correct lane, speed cameras, traffic lights, listening for importing turnings. We were on the motorway now in the slow lane the time was 1.50pm Megan said to me “Go faster, we gonna be late!!!” I said to her, “It is more important to get there in 1 piece than dead!” I carried on doing 40mph then after 10 minutes Megan turned to me and said in a quiet voice, “You’re a good driver.”

I drove on at 40mph as visibility was poor, I was sad that we’d missed the wedding and I thought my lovely Mummy would have been worried that she’d not seen us, I know she would have looked, but it was an unforeseen situation that had popped up and yes it was embarrassing to have come all that way and totally missed it!

In heavy rain we arrived at 2.20pm we drove past the church and eventually found a side road and parked. Daniel and Susan had some of the snacks that I’d bought, Megan realized she had forgotten her small but perfectly formed umbrella that I’d bought her the 1 that folds up to 3” I’d remembered mine, it wasn’t big enough for the both of us, so while she waited for me to put my grey suede slip-on ankle boots in the back seat of my car, it was with great difficulty as I had to squeeze my swollen ankles into my navy socks then put my hurting feet into my boots but it hurt bad as I had just been diagnosed with water on the knee, so the pain was almost unbearable as I tried to bend my knee!!!!

It took us about 6 minutes to walk to the Church, we went into the foyer and I asked those there, “Can you tell me where the bride and groom is now,” (for I’d assumed they had gone somewhere to take photos) only to be informed, “The bride hasn’t arrived yet!” I said stunned, “You mean we haven’t missed it! We were thrilled to say the least! We sat at the back behind the last row of people, I went to the front and said “Hello,” to Mum, and amazingly others were still arriving late after us 10, 15 and 20 minutes later! I said to Anton my cousin as he walked to the back, “Do you think the bride will turn up?” He replied, “Others are asking the same question, but most of his family, including Deana the bride-to-be had arrived the day before, and Jude the groom was never early in his life! He was there looking smart and fantastic!

The bride arrived ONE hour late!!! It was a lovely wedding service, Deana looked amazing! Her dress must have cost a pretty penny! Around the veil and hem of her dress was what looked like tiny little diamonds, the dress was beautifully made, it did her figure justice!

After the wedding ceremony the bride and groom went outside the church to take photos, amazingly the rain had now stopped; the photographer for the wedding was a woman she must have taken 1000 pictures, before, during and after the wedding, including individual guest standing around the front of the church. During the service and now the time of the photographs I was in deep thought, “What was going to happen to my baby and his girlfriend after the service?” Everyone was joyful but not me, I’d made sure Paul, Megan and myself had had breakfast; I’d asked Daniel if he and Susan had eaten and they had said they had eaten TOAST!!!! What the heck was that going to do! That wouldn’t keep body and soul together!!!

While others were asking where the venue was for the meal that was soon to follow, the clouds came over again and it started to rain, my heart sank, this was not a happy time for me although to look at my face, no one would know that. I was tiny and small amongst the crowd and my worries big, because for the next few hours I didn’t know how my child and his girlfriend were going to cope. My heart went in my mouth when Daniel said to me, “Where are we going to go Mum?” I looked at them both and said, “I don’t know Daniel, like you I don’t know the area.”

The majority had now driven off to the reception venue, I was in no hurry and to make matters worse my phone didn’t have much power left, I would guess it was less than an hour! Mum had told me she would be sitting on the table the bride was at, she didn’t want to, she wanted to sit with me and Paul but her sister was, “Having none of it!” I gave both Daniel and Susan £5 each, she told me, she was “OK,” for she had, “Got paid yesterday,” but I insisted! I felt rubbish as it was, abandoning them to the streets!!!

We couldn’t find the venue!!! I drove up and down the high street, and my phone died!! It ran out of power! So I asked one person he didn’t know I asked another he said, “If you see the church on the right, you’ve gone too far,” 5 minutes later we saw the church so at the roundabout ahead I went all the way round it and up the other side of the high street and there it was just off the main road on our left!

Now because the bride was 1 hour late everything was pushed back so there was no way the evening reception would now start at 730pm, oh dear I had that sinking feeling there was a lot of stress on my part and that was not just my son outside with his girlfriend but lack of sleep on my part and the very long day that I was experiencing!     

Eventually Megan and I went in the reception hall and it was amazing! It was all tastefully decorated with balloons, ribbons, banners and the bride and groom’s names, there was SO much to see and take in. I knew that with most weddings there is a list near the front entrance with the quest name of where we were all sitting. I looked on the list and found my name and Pauls, thinking we were the last to arrive, yet relieved to see others coming in after us. I was starving! I’d used up all my energy, and was now running on empty! I was very pleased to be on the table with my brother Richard! He was a friendly face where the majority of the people I didn’t know, well to be fair not the majority that’s just how it felt, for the groom was my cousin after all, so I did know a lot of people there, I just felt not in control of the situation with my son outside and Susan.

I saw next to the table I was sat at a beautiful table full of pick and mix sweets and muffins!! A large sign above telling guests to “Help yourselves,” in the form of a poem, I didn’t have the courage to but my brother Richard said, “That’s what it’s for and he got up and got a muffin for himself, so I re-read it again and got a muffin for me and Megan, she was ravenous too! It was SO lovely, as an adult I don’t usually eat icing anymore, when I was a child I used to have everybody else’s, for most didn’t like it but at that moment I need the sugar, and so I ate the soft sweet icing too.

On the table I sat at there was Richard his girlfriend Sara, next to Richard was a lovely lad Luke who we grew up with, and two young women we didn’t know, so I asked them their names and was very surprised when she said her Christian name was our surname!! I couldn’t believe it and asked her again what her name was, on hearing it Richard too looked up towards her, and a conversation started! It was no coincide that we were sat on that table together.

On each round table there was a bouquet of real flowers in a lovely vase of water and a small frame with the name of a country inside, each table had a different country inside their frame. There was also the menu for the 3 course meal that was soon to follow. We didn’t know how soon the food was to follow or if there would be speeches first!! Thank God, they announced my Auntie would say Grace and the food would be served.

Male and female waiters came to each table having served the Brides table first, quickly served the starter, fresh salad and prawns, it was delicious, small but delicious, I was thinking what to do with drinks for Megan as said had said she was, “Thirsty,” when right on cue, the servers came with bottled drinks and put them on each table, there was red and white wine, non alcoholic drinks and jugs of water with ice and wedges of lemons in. I do not drink any alcohol when I am out, so I welcomed the non alcoholic drinks and it was safe for Megan or any child to drink too, the servers made sure all tables fully stocked up and not a single table lacked! It was awesome; I said to Megan, “This wedding must have cost a lot per head, the stretch limousine, the free drinks, the 3 course meals, the beautiful hall, the sweets and muffin bar, the woman taking all those photos, the man doing the video, the buffet to follow on the evening, her beautiful dress, the rings, 3 nights stay in the nearby hotel, and the rests! Megan and I decided if this bride went on the TV programme Four Weddings she would easily win it! But through it all I never forgot my baby outside, as hungry as I was, I still had to force my second course down, it was chicken breast, well a Sunday roast. It was hot and delicious, the chicken was SO tender. There was a vegetarian option for those who wanted it. Near our table where the list of names were I’d noticed on arrival, there was a plug, so I plugged in my mobile phone and put in under the linen table cloth out of sight, it quickly charged and I rang Daniel after I’d finished the second course, I didn’t even finish it, as I was so unhappy deep inside of me. I asked him if they had eaten and he said, “We had an Indian take away,” “Poor Sausage,” I thought. I asked him if they were “OK” and he said, “Yes.” I told him I’d phone him again soon and put the phone back on charge.