After the Wedding – A View from the Groom

The party is over and most of our guests have gone.  Frank Sinatra is singing in the next room where Sprite is laughing with her sisters.  I am happy.

The food, the flowers, the cake have vanished.  Empty tables and chairs wait to be retrieved by the rental company. In the morning Sprite and I will fly to Hawaii.

Earlier, at the ceremony, Sprite was so touched by the smiling faces of all of our friends and family assembled to wish us well that she had asked for a Kleenex before she walked into the garden.

The words offered by our friend Jack were humorous, hopeful, and struck a chord of harmony in everyone present.

At Sprite’s invitation, I had pre-recorded our favorite song, “My Romance,” and to everyone’s surprise (including my own) I sang it to her at the ceremony.

While the morning had been gray and drizzly, the sun came out just as we were saying our vows. When Jack asked me I said, “Absolutely,” I felt the usual groom’s reply wasn’t definite enough, although I added “I do,” to be sure. Sprite liked my “Absolutely,” and used it herself, and also “I do.”  That’s how we are together.

The guests are what make a party great, and great this party was.  A wedding is the perfect place for smiles, hugs, and shared remembrances, for these are the glue which brings and binds us together.

Later we will all share our photos.  But each of us has already carried away our love, our hopes, and our memories. Those we will carry in our hearts forever.

Alan