Big, Small, or Somewhere In Between - #2, Wedding

or The Greatest Moments In My Life

I like to spend time recollecting. That's mostly a euphemism for zoning out, but sometimes good memories come back.

Really, I spend a lot of that time thinking about some of the great times I've had. There have been some really good ones, some great ones, and some nice little moments.


Wedding

Yes, in #2, I go for a little romance. I wasn't always totally lame... Or, should it be "I wasn't always totally lame?" Hard to choose.

Also, I must apologize in advance for the complicated sentence structure. I believe it is grammatically correct, but if a sentence needs to be read very slowly so you can even understand it, it should be rewritten. Yet, I'm not going to. Perhaps for the screenplay...

I look at this event as an example of what can happen when you man up and do what you need to do. See girl. Do something about it. Get girl.

Background

I met a girl at my friend's Wedding. The friend, herself, will not really appear in the story, as she is not important to the story. But, we have to start somewhere because you didn't know me back then, did you?

My friend was a just one of a large group of friends. I was, relatively speaking, new to the group. They had all grown up on the same street, gone to the same schools, and now a good percentage worked at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, where I also worked.

They were a huge, extended family, which, ironically for teens, even included their parents, in addition to many other friends.

They were a great group of people and I loved being around them. After a few months, I felt like I'd known them forever. We did virtually everything together. I soon became best friends with one of them. Paul.

Paul and I even drove across country, on a whim, to New Orleans! We took turns zig-zagging between his friends and my family, state by state, as we drove across the country. It was weird and spontaneous. We didn't even tell people we were coming. We just called them a few hours before we were going to arrive in their city. Sometimes people weren't home and we just kept going. New Orleans was cool. We decided to drive on to the East Coast of Florida so we could say we went from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back.

It was right after this trip that I went to the wedding. We really had to drive back fast to get back in time for the wedding. But, we cruised in late Friday, bought some awesome plaid Buddy Holly jackets and went home to rest up for the wedding.

These people are so nice. I got home to find an invite to the rehearsal dinner! Score for me!

I got dressed and headed over. Unfortunately, there was no one new amongst the bridesmaids. All four were known factors. But, it was a great time, nonetheless.

Wedding Day

I love weddings.

First, I believe in them.

Second, I'm not so shy at weddings. Everyone goes around introducing themselves and asking how you know everyone else. It's easy for me.

Thirdly, I can dance at a wedding and not be embarrassed. I'm not much in the grace department. But, I don't really care at a wedding. Kids, oldsters, and everyone in between is dancing. There's always someone worse than me.

So, here I am at a huge and beautiful wedding, attended by all my friends. Couldn't ask for more.

The wedding itself was a Catholic one. I was bored. However, I now counted five bridesmaids.

That Godlight Stuff

The clouds part and in in my mind's eye, visible beams of light shine down on number five. Reddish brown hair and those perfect lips that only appear in drawings.

I really don't dare ask who she is, considering I'm sitting with a group of fathers who's daughters and sons are doing wedding tasks. She could very well belong to one of them.

In case you haven't figured this out, part of my shyness dictates that I hold all feelings of attraction to girls close to the vest, lest I be embarrassed by not doing anything about it. So, mums the word all the way to the reception, where I try not to stare too much until dinner is over.

Dancing begins, and in a manner most unlike me, I walk up to her and say "I don't know half the people here. Who are you?"

We talked for a bit. She complained about how she hated weddings. Yet she looked absolutely beautiful in her typical, taffeta bridesmaid dress (peach, if memory serves). She was going to school in Albuquerque and had just arrived that morning, hence the surprise bridesmaid's sudden appearance.

We danced a bit and talked a bit more before she headed off for the bouquet toss and other bridesmaidy things.

The wedding wound down, but before it did, I started to get all sorts of strange comments from my friends as I asked about her. Apparently, this girl was unattainable. Out of my reach. Out of everyone's reach. Yet, how could this girl have never been even brought up in conversation? They all worshipped her. All the guys were in love and the girls acted like she was the girl to be, yet strangely not a threat to them. They all worshipped her.

Just so we're perfectly clear... She was beautiful, brilliant, artistic, funny, and sharp witted. Plus, she was willing and capable of putting up with and throwing back all of the ribbing that I could dish out. She would even backhand you in the stomach or give you a good punch when you gave her the business. Gotta love that. She also said my name in an unusually deliberate and spunky way. Ro Land. Mmmm... Not that I worshipped her, mind you...

Oh yeah. Wedding winds down. Back to that.

We are all gathered around a table and just hanging out. In the second or third un-Roland-like move, I actually gesture her to the seat next to me. This requires that she get up from her seat and come over to me. She does, and sits down.

I remember that I had to do it quick. Like a band-aid. The friends were suspicious. Someone would try to put a stop to this now that they were on to me.

Paul is looking at us with a queer look. Like a controlled panic. I had started to suspect something. Suddenly, stupid Roland has a realization. On our trip, there was a girl in New Mexico who didn't answer her phone. The mysterious ex-girlfriend of another friend/roommate/wedding guest!  This must be her! Thank God Paul's girlfriend is there to slow him down. He can't exactly rush over. But, if he actually gets to me and shares the info, this thing is over before it starts. (Seems like a lot, but in reality, this was all over in a split second.)

Then, comes perhaps the lamest "ask out" ever.

"I know you're leaving in two weeks, but I was wondering what your answer would be if I asked if you'd go out with me." (See? It wasn't even a question!) In retrospect, I must have been red faced when I asked it, too.

She smiled so sweetly, but in a way that I can't really describe with justice, and leaned down onto my chest, resting her head on me and relaxing. Totally. She even sighed and settled in.

She sort of half looked up at me, nodding. "Where are we going?"

I still can't believe it.