For Me And You
As a person not so musically adept it oddly struck me that one of the string players was out of tune or out of sync and if that ubiquitous number played at so many weddings was discordant to my ears then what must it have sounded like to those know their music?
Then the guitar player plugged in and asked every one to stand and as it was so shortly after the preacher had just said we could sit down it felt almost like a revolution, one where musicians and preachers battle for supremacy. The guitar strummer instructed everyone to clap along and Bernadette clapped along. I wanted to tell her that being dragged along to these family weddings does not mean you have to clap when told to. Instead, I just waited out the song while occasionally looking at the big screen with the projected lyrics. It wasn't but a bit later that we were instructed to raise our right appendages in the fashion of a laying on of hands and I did this, so who am I to tell Bernadette not to be a hand clapping sheep? She is no sheep I can tell you that and I am sure she clapped only because she felt like it. I on the other hand raised my arm in the air because I felt that being a sheep in this case would be better than being a sacrificial lamb.
It was a nice wedding affair in any case, perhaps a little long seeming at times but then made up for later by a quickening of pace.
At the dinner afterwards my oldest brother led a few devout Texans in the singing of the Eyes of Texas, which is the University fight song and although I won't fact check this, may also be the state song. The wedding was in Virginia.
Who knew that three quarters of the remaining attendees were Canadians? When they got their chance they sang the Canadian National Anthem, which is quite lovely, and again there was the feeling of revolution in the air. A not so old white haired gentleman weaved between the tables waving a small Canadian flag.
Then came a bunch of heartfelt testimonials from friends and relatives of the bride and groom and while I wasn't altogether bored to tears I got within a hair's breadth of it. If there had been alcohol served I would have let my tears flow and when asked if I was all right I would have confessed to one of my new best friends, my new Canadian drinking buddy, that yes I was all right, I'm just allergic to Canadians. We would have gotten a hearty guffaw out of that one and he would have come back--Steers and Queers, nowhere but Texas, which frankly I don't think is very funny.
By all reports, God was in the room and so I should have thanked Him in person for the 9-year-old sister of the bride singing the Sinatra classic, L-O-V-E, which goes like this:
L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can
Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you
L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can
Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you
There is nothing like a clear-voiced and confident 9-year-old girl singing Sinatra to restore your faith in all that is right in the world. She narrowly beat out the Canadians for song of the day and was at last counting in a too close to call tie with the chocolate cream filled cupcakes as things that made the trip worthwhile. The Honorable Mentions go to my few family members in attendance. It's good to be together once in awhile.
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