Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Heather in the Hills

In the summer of 1989 we spent some time in Ireland en route to a new AF assignment in Germany. Today, on a purge of piles of scribblings, I came across a journal I kept that summer. Several hours slipped away while I sat on the bedroom floor reading and reminiscing.... one of the places we visited was the village church at Cratloe, where we got married . It's a tiny church, out in the country, up on the side of a hill where heather grows wild and thick and plentiful. The girls picked armloads of wild flowers with lots of heather mixed in, and Liz announced to her aunt, myself, siblings and cousins that if she ever got married she wanted heather in her bouquet!

Today she and her husband have been married nine years and I'm wondering, did the heather ever get in there? And you're wondering---hmm, mother of the bride---how come you don't know? Well, nine years ago, we had been back from yet another overseas assignment [this time four years in Belgium] for just one month before The Big Day. We were still living out of suitcases and could still be described as being "of no fixed abode". So, I wasn't exactly in the loop for flower selection! And if I had been they could not possibly have been more beautiful. Certainly the color of heather was there..... She was a beautiful bride and married a lovely guy and I'm wishing them "Happy Anniversary" and many, many more.

1 comment:

Lily said...

You know what. I don't know. I wasn't very specific on flower types. I told her what colors I wanted, looked at some pics and said what I liked and didn't like, gave her a check and told her I trusted her. I must have good instincts because the flowers were one of my favorite parts of the wedding. Of course, MB was my most favorite part.