CHURCH LADY P.I. Part # 18
(EPILOGUE: LOVE)
One week after that "Celebration of Life", there was a "Celebration of Love" and I became Marc's wife.
He told me he always knew I would marry him eventually. Then I remembered how Bert had been upset with Marc for revealing to me their "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT" knocking code and Marc had defended himself by saying, "She's going to be my wife, Bert. Plus, she's an investigator. How long do you think I could have kept it from her?"
I asked him what had made him so sure I would eventually marry him.
"Well," he started slowly and pensively,
"your decision to not marry me was coming from your fears surrounding me being younger than you. I suppose I had enough faith in you and in God that ultimately you wouldn't let fear be the deciding factor. Remember, 'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. '
{ 1 John 4:18 }
And even though my love isn't perfect. Jesus' love is."
"I certainly did make you wait though." I responded, feeling a twinge of guilt.
"Yes. But when love is real, it's also patient." Marc concluded.
Then he ran his hand down my left cheek, and let it rest on my left shoulder, which was still bandaged. A gesture that garnered some attention from the other people in the bakery where we stood,
"And some people are really worth the wait."
I don't suppose I have to tell you that it was not the perfect wedding though. Apparently, the person who put the icing on our wedding cake was new at their job and didn't realize they were using the wrong kind of icing. They were using a type that had to be kept refrigerated. So on the morning of the wedding, when we arrived at the bakery to pick up our 4 tier wedding cake, the icing was a large white puddle on the floor.
Also, the Groom was so nervous he had to make numerous and unrehearsed trips to the washroom during the ceremony. Not to mention the Minister's allergic reaction to the Bride's bouquet of carnations, which caused him to have a violent attack of sneezing. When I realized what was going on I didn't just "toss the bouquet", I heaved it as far away as I could. It landed in the lap of Marc's 84 year old great-Uncle Max who was seated in the second to last row of the church. Three days before the wedding Uncle Max had walked into Susan's house, sat down to supper with the rest of us and asked someone to "pass the peas" like he'd just stepped outside, instead of having been missing for almost 25 years. Nobody had the courage to ask him where he had been all these years. Susan responded by passing her Uncle the peas, shrugging her shoulders and saying, "It's okay, we have a good investigator in the family now."
Of course, what other people would consider "imperfection" were actually "perfect" moments. Like when my flower girl/ring bearer/new daughter came in carrying our rings on a small pink, satin pillow grasped partly in her brand new prosthetic hand.
Then, right after the Minister pronounced us as "Husband and Wife", the Best Man made a pronouncement of his own:
"FINALLY!"
("Thank you, Bert.")
We held the Reception at the Old Town Hall (since there is no "new" town hall I never did get an explanation why it is called that) and it didn't take long for the "wedding crashers" to start arriving. Almost all of them were bearing casseroles and various sweets, until our reception turned into a huge "potluck" supper with the entire town in attendance. I think after what everyone had been through people wanted, even needed, to share in our joy.
And even as poor as most of the people in the town are, we got heaps of truly wonderful wedding presents. But my favorite (and Marc agrees) came in the odd packaging of two small boxes wrapped beautifully, even daintily in matching paper and ribbons and then taped together with silver duct tape. They contained matching wrist watches.
But my favorite part of the ceremony was when, for the very first time, I was introduced by my new married name and at last I was rid of the ridiculous "Mai Breeze" forever.
The minister declared, " I now present to you 'Mr. & Mrs. Marc and Mai ... La Fleur' "!
I'm told the music you pick for your wedding is extremely important and it must be so, because in just the few days we had to plan our wedding I received many, many suggestions for songs. Especially for that all important "first dance" as husband and wife. Since Marc had so many firm beliefs and opinions about how demonstrative a man and woman should be in public, I left the entire thing in his hands. I even told him that if he wished to dispense with dancing altogether it would be fine with me.
Many Christians don't believe in dancing at all and there had even been some serious debating about the issue within Marc's family. He said he thought it was alright if we had "some dancing", but beyond that I had no idea what to expect. But since during the entire first two years of our courtship Marc never even held my hand in public, I felt confident whatever he chose would be appropriate, conservative and above all moral. Especially that first dance which is supposed to be the musical reflection of the couple itself.
Going down the aisle it was the traditional "Wedding March".
But what did Marc chose for that all important "first dance" as husband and wife?
Was it a Wedding Standard?
"At Last"
"The Way You Look Tonight"
"This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)"
"Forever and Ever, (Amen)"
"Through the Years"
Perhaps a Classical Song?
"Cannon in D"
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
"The Blue Danube"
Or maybe a Christian song?
" I Will Be There"
"Perfect Union"
"Wedding Song (There is Love)"
"The Prayer"
So what did Marc ultimately chose?
"Finally"
Yup. By CeCe Peniston.
The "Marc Remix"
My Marc. Full of surprises.
And oh, did we DANCE!
Because, when all is said and done, nobody understands the joy of a long-awaited wedding like a Christian does.
"Finally! It's happened to me. Right in front of my face. My poor lips can't describe it."
"YEAH, YEAH. OW!
LINK "FINALLY" by CeCe Peniston
BTW "La Fleur" is the French word for "FLOWER". So I went from being Mai Breeze to being Mai Flower. 😄
LINK to Next Part # 19 "Epilogue: Epilogue"
"FINALLY FINISHED: Church Lady P.I." from Laura-Lee Was Here Blog (Companion Post)
CHURCH LADY P.I.: Introduction
Copyright 2015 "The characters and events in this story are not meant to represent any persons living or dead and are entirely a product of the imagination of the writer." LR
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