Today...I am torn. I would really like to write about a financial and personal business issue involving our new (soon to be old) dentist...but I want to give it a day before I do so I can maybe calm down a bit. Too bad for you folks...it would have been scathingly hilarious today. You'll just have to settle for poignantly humorous tomorrow.
Alright...I have an equally emotional topic today, and I am just as eager to express it, so here we go. Unlike the topic involving money, this involves my heart, and the wonderful memories it includes. As is often the case with my blog topics, today's comes to me from a variety of sources: Our anniversary, Music, and an old friend. (No, I am not calling you "old" Michelle.)
Precisely four days ago, Sylvia and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. We exchanged cards. We were surprised by a wonderful meal by our kids. (Fondue, steak, and Caesar salad ...Mmmmm!) We even posted it on Facebook...so you know it's official! And I, being the moderately romantic guy that I am, took part in a tradition that I have done for many years now. As close to the time that we were saying our vows as my schedule will allow, I arrange for Sylvia to hear the song "Ave Maria" on our anniversary. Once I left her a note on the CD player saying, "Turn this on to track 2 at 11:30." But that didn't seem to cut it. So recently, I have been finding recordings and playing them over the phone when I call. Music hasn't been a huge part of our relationship, but there are a handful of songs that will make us grasp hands, smile, and even dance (including in a hardware store). Ave Maria is definitely a hand holder.
At our wedding we wanted to include this song. It was a favorite of her Mom's mom in Germany, and including it (and her wedding ring) in the ceremony was like a part of her was there. Sylvia had even secured a German version on cassette tape so we could play it during the ceremony. I think the discussion was, "Would it be ok if we..."
"YES!"
"During the ceremon...."
"YES!"
"It's the German versi...."
"YES!" (I knew that family is a huge part of who Sylvia is...hence, the proposal.)
It just so happened that on this particular anniversary there was an odd convergence of events. While I was getting ready to call Sylvia this year to play Celine Dion's version of the song, I got a Facebook message on my phone. It was from Michelle. She wanted to wish us happy anniversary. She also wanted to comment on, you guessed it, Ave Maria. WoW! As I was fumbling with YouTube and my apparent lack of technological savvy, I received confirmation that it was a memorable part of that day. Michelle mentioned that the song stuck out in her memory because she had never heard it live before. (OK, so it wasn't live...but it did stick out in her mind.) I'm gonna let it slide...she's really old. (OK Michelle, now that time I did call you old.) Michelle and I messaged back and forth for a bit and I mentioned that it may have stuck out since, as it turns out, it was the longest known recording of Ave Maria...EVER!! I am sure it's not hard to imagine a long version of this particular, wonderful, song since the first two words, eight letters long, are often turned into at least a minute and a half ...and about thirteen syllables. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Vayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Marrrrrrrrrrr Eeeeeee Eeeee eee eee eeeee EEeeeee eee eeee eeeeeee ee UhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHhhhHhhhHhh....You get the idea.
That's not the best part. The best part is that a few minutes before Sylvia was supposed to go walking down the aisle, the sound guys came to me in the pastor's office where I was waiting all alone for the ceremony to begin. (It's all right Craig...Best Man...I have forgiven you for leaving me all alone...sniff) It seems that these two people had listened to the recording, determined that it was too long, and wanted to ask me a question. They wanted to know if they could just turn it off after two minutes. I was dumbfounded. I was about to take part in the most important day of my life and they were on a schedule? I stammered, "Wh, wh, wh, Huh?" They explained that it was really long, about five minutes, and there was a pop at about two minutes where they could pretend that was the end and just turn it off. I thought, Sylvia and I never discussed this...that won't work. I thought, it took us two hours to decide which garbage can we would have in our kitchen...this is not going to be easy. I thought, it's in German! What if we are cutting it off at her grandmother's favorite part? I thought, I am NOT going to try to involve Sylvia in this...she has enough to worry about. While inside my head I really thought the 1994 version of, "SERIOUSLY!?!" It was probably, "SAY WHAT!!?!"
So right there, in the Pastor's office, and then I made the first solo decision of my soon-to-be married life. I went for the full Monty! I sucked it up, I erred on the side of caution, and I told them to play the whole darn thing, all five minutes of it, pop and all! And it was a memorable part of the ceremony. One that I look forward to reliving each and every year.
****Addendum****
Sylvia read this, as she does with all of my posts, and she said, "I cannot believe you didn't write what I said during the song!" To address this egregious error, I have decided to make an unprecedented change. (It's unpresidented too but most of what I do is) So here goes.
During the song, Sylvia and I held hands and looked lovingly into each other's eyes. She was teetering and I was a little worried that she may go down. I squeezed her hand, told her to hang in there, and bobbed and weaved so I could track her gaze. That's when she said it..."This song is soooooo long!" Too late I thought. We are already past the pop...we have to ride it out to the end!
Alright...I have an equally emotional topic today, and I am just as eager to express it, so here we go. Unlike the topic involving money, this involves my heart, and the wonderful memories it includes. As is often the case with my blog topics, today's comes to me from a variety of sources: Our anniversary, Music, and an old friend. (No, I am not calling you "old" Michelle.)
Precisely four days ago, Sylvia and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. We exchanged cards. We were surprised by a wonderful meal by our kids. (Fondue, steak, and Caesar salad ...Mmmmm!) We even posted it on Facebook...so you know it's official! And I, being the moderately romantic guy that I am, took part in a tradition that I have done for many years now. As close to the time that we were saying our vows as my schedule will allow, I arrange for Sylvia to hear the song "Ave Maria" on our anniversary. Once I left her a note on the CD player saying, "Turn this on to track 2 at 11:30." But that didn't seem to cut it. So recently, I have been finding recordings and playing them over the phone when I call. Music hasn't been a huge part of our relationship, but there are a handful of songs that will make us grasp hands, smile, and even dance (including in a hardware store). Ave Maria is definitely a hand holder.
At our wedding we wanted to include this song. It was a favorite of her Mom's mom in Germany, and including it (and her wedding ring) in the ceremony was like a part of her was there. Sylvia had even secured a German version on cassette tape so we could play it during the ceremony. I think the discussion was, "Would it be ok if we..."
"YES!"
"During the ceremon...."
"YES!"
"It's the German versi...."
"YES!" (I knew that family is a huge part of who Sylvia is...hence, the proposal.)
It just so happened that on this particular anniversary there was an odd convergence of events. While I was getting ready to call Sylvia this year to play Celine Dion's version of the song, I got a Facebook message on my phone. It was from Michelle. She wanted to wish us happy anniversary. She also wanted to comment on, you guessed it, Ave Maria. WoW! As I was fumbling with YouTube and my apparent lack of technological savvy, I received confirmation that it was a memorable part of that day. Michelle mentioned that the song stuck out in her memory because she had never heard it live before. (OK, so it wasn't live...but it did stick out in her mind.) I'm gonna let it slide...she's really old. (OK Michelle, now that time I did call you old.) Michelle and I messaged back and forth for a bit and I mentioned that it may have stuck out since, as it turns out, it was the longest known recording of Ave Maria...EVER!! I am sure it's not hard to imagine a long version of this particular, wonderful, song since the first two words, eight letters long, are often turned into at least a minute and a half ...and about thirteen syllables. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Vayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Marrrrrrrrrrr Eeeeeee Eeeee eee eee eeeee EEeeeee eee eeee eeeeeee ee UhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHhhhHhhhHhh....You get the idea.
That's not the best part. The best part is that a few minutes before Sylvia was supposed to go walking down the aisle, the sound guys came to me in the pastor's office where I was waiting all alone for the ceremony to begin. (It's all right Craig...Best Man...I have forgiven you for leaving me all alone...sniff) It seems that these two people had listened to the recording, determined that it was too long, and wanted to ask me a question. They wanted to know if they could just turn it off after two minutes. I was dumbfounded. I was about to take part in the most important day of my life and they were on a schedule? I stammered, "Wh, wh, wh, Huh?" They explained that it was really long, about five minutes, and there was a pop at about two minutes where they could pretend that was the end and just turn it off. I thought, Sylvia and I never discussed this...that won't work. I thought, it took us two hours to decide which garbage can we would have in our kitchen...this is not going to be easy. I thought, it's in German! What if we are cutting it off at her grandmother's favorite part? I thought, I am NOT going to try to involve Sylvia in this...she has enough to worry about. While inside my head I really thought the 1994 version of, "SERIOUSLY!?!" It was probably, "SAY WHAT!!?!"
I had mentioned this lopping off the song option to Michelle while we messaged back and forth and she added the possiblility, "Louvre director to Monet: 'can we just cut a few feet off these damn waterlily paintings? They're so freaking big'"
I of course, suggested that the reason the Venus de Milo looked like that was because they couldn't get her to fit in the door. Is it any wonder we are friends?
****Addendum****
Sylvia read this, as she does with all of my posts, and she said, "I cannot believe you didn't write what I said during the song!" To address this egregious error, I have decided to make an unprecedented change. (It's unpresidented too but most of what I do is) So here goes.
During the song, Sylvia and I held hands and looked lovingly into each other's eyes. She was teetering and I was a little worried that she may go down. I squeezed her hand, told her to hang in there, and bobbed and weaved so I could track her gaze. That's when she said it..."This song is soooooo long!" Too late I thought. We are already past the pop...we have to ride it out to the end!
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