Saturday, March 12, 2005

Memories of the Distant Past

A Memory from the Distant Past


I can remember a wedding day - so many years ago that the once vibrant young couple grew old and passed on. My uncle - the youngest one on my mom's side of the family. It was his wedding day. The bride was blonde, small and delicate...the groom tall, thin with dark hair. A handsome couple. In this tiny Pennsylvania town, weddings were mostly home affairs. So, uncle's wedding started off with breakfast for everyone. Then a lot of sitting around and talking waiting for the wedding to begin. It was very exciting for me. One of the first times I was truly amazed at how well people dressed and how happy they could be. As children's memories are sporadic at best, I don't remember the wedding itself. I remember sitting in a large room with so many grownups. Finally one boy about my age came and sat near me. He was very timid - maybe even more so than I was. I could hear a fan droning nearby. To this day I remember the exact hum of that fan and the atmosphere of the room. Eventually, after saying a word or so each - we put aside the fact that he was a strange boy and I was a strange girl and just became two little human beings having a nice chat. Later, the party moved out onto my grandparent's huge side porch - that same porch that became a whole lot smaller when I grew up. Everyone danced with the bride - faster and faster until she fainted from the summer's heat. I don't remember the boy disappearing - apparently, his parents left and took him home. I still remember his face and the friendship we shared when we found ourselves to be the only two children at that wedding. Just wanted to share this for what its worth.