As per Cynthia’s recent posts, you obviously know that we just got back from my daughter’s wedding. That being the case, I thought I would bring up a few of my thoughts about my experiences about the trip, wedding, family, and new friends.
To begin with, airplane travel is always interesting. First, we go through the x-ray machine. Someone is getting their jollies. I am sure of course, that they are amazed by my sleek, sexy, well cut, and athletic body. They’ll probably call Men’s Health Magazine and suggest that they contact me to be their next cover model. You should probably be watching for that. And yes, I will gladly autograph that issue for you.
Then for some reason, as almost always, we have a plane that does not arrive on time. This always coincides with when we have short layovers. Thus we go streaking across the airport, (not that kind of streaking, that will get you arrested), and most of the time make it to the next flight. Of course, we wind up hoping that this wild race will only cause us to feel as if we’re going into cardiac arrest and not turn into the actual event. Then there were other oddities on this trip. Cynthia told you of some of our experiences in her post Just Waitin' on a Ride.
Going to the beach was also an experience. I’ll tell you up front, I am not much of a beach person. There are just not that many ocean beaches in the Ozarks. I enjoyed swimming when I was young. But now, if I am in the water, I am either taking a bath, wading while fishing, or I done fell out of the boat. I do enjoy watching the waves come in but I am not a sun worshiper who lies out to get a tan. My tans are called farmers tans, (tan arms, neck, ears, and part of my face that the hat doesn’t cover and maybe a small area on my low back where my britches pulled down when I was working while bent over). And yes, I am and at times do get a red neck.
Anyway, on the one day at the beach, my ex-wife, her husband, Cynthia, and I wound up taking care of our granddaughter. Actually, Cynthia looked for shade, my ex-wife and her husband sunned, and I wound up chasing my granddaughter up and down the beach. Some of the time, she would grab my finger and say ---- let’s race! Greaaat! I'll have a cardiac arrest on the beach instead of at the airport!
But this all lead to questions for which I have no answers. How does my 4 year old granddaughter do all this running and never get out of breath? I couldn’t even tell that her breathing changed. How does a little girl that is probably only 44 or 45” tall take running steps that are longer than my normal fast walking step? I am 6’2” tall and my walking steps are about 30 to 32”. My running steps might go to 40 some inches. Her running steps are about 35” or over 75% of her height. How come I am tired? Oh yeah! That’s why!
Meeting my son-in-law’s family was great. Everyone was nice, fun, and great people. My daughter and granddaughter seem to have stolen their hearts. Of course, my granddaughter seems to steal everyone’s heart.
The wedding was beautiful --- except for my part. I would say that I am pretty good, but pretty would be stretching it. I have always said that I have to do ugly good! As the wedding progressed, I was thinking that it doesn’t seem like it has been that long since my daughter was the size of my granddaughter. I was also thinking that when my daughter was that age, she looked almost exactly like my granddaughter. It is really hard to think of the one without thinking of the other!
As you might expect, I watched and tried to spend a lot of time with my granddaughter. She is an interesting mix of characteristics that I have not figured out. She is artistic. She was coloring within the lines at age 2. She now colors well with both hands at the same time. She has this little high voice but when pretending to read, her voice may drop and sound like she is possessed with a demon. At one point during the wedding photography, there was a song that came on and she kind of went into her own world. She started moving her head, hands and arms in kind of a graceful way and I was mesmerized. I turned to see if anyone else was seeing this and to try to get Cynthia’s attention to have her begin photographing it. Fortunately, Cynthia was watching and already doing so.
Later it cooled off, and my granddaughter got cold. I asked her if she wanted me to hold her and warm her up. She did! I held her for a long time and carried her for a long ways. In fact, I wound up holding her until she got warm – about half way through the reception. I paid for it that night with hip and low back pain. ------ It was worth it! Another memory made!
As for the wedding, I was very happy to see my daughter marry. With my first marriage failing, both of my children had a hard time committing themselves to marry. After my son’s wedding, my daughter began to believe that she too could marry, but it was still a struggle. Her fiancé having gone through much of the same problems also went through this struggle and told me that he had never expected to marry. Love triumphed and now they are married! Her husband now calls me dad. I guess I have gained a son. Surprisingly, he is a son who is a whole lot like I was at his age, except that he shows affection much better than I did. I came from a loving family but one that did not hug and I had to grow into that as I was surrounded by friends who did so.
Congratulations and love to my daughter and new son-in-law, (son).
From the Hillbilly’s Corner!
