The Curse and the Wedding

I don't know if I've ever told you about the curse on my family.

Well, many years ago when my many-generations-distant grandparents lived in old Hungary, one of them one day inadvertently pissed off an old gypsy woman who, as old gypsy women back then were wont to do, put a curse on the family. It wasn't a ghastly, terrifying curse like the one described by Edward Lucas White in his classic short story, Lukundoo, or a dreadful curse like the one Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) wrote of in his novel Thinner. No, our curse is one that manifests itself in the things that happen every day...

If I get into a the shortest line anywhere - in a store, in a bank, at the theater, anywhere - that line will immediately stop moving.

If something I really, really want is on sale, and I have the money available to buy it on the spot, it will be sold out.

If I desperately have to go to the bathroom (not a small concern as I get older), there won't be so much as a half-concealing bush within miles.

And so on. As curses go, I suppose it beats being strangled in the night by a reanimated corpse, but it has its own frustrations.

What does that have to do with weddings, you ask?

Well...

When our daughter was married a few years back, we had planned an outdoor wedding at the Officers' Club at Fort Belvoir (beautiful location, and a chance to cash in on my paid-for-every-month-since-1983 membership). On the appointed day, it didn't just rain...it rained so hard people were lining their pets up in twos and looking for ark space. The people who had our backup location inside the club building - who were supposed to be out of the room so we could set up for the wedding - dawdled endlessly, ensuring that we and the club staff had to frantically race to get things organized. And those people had brought all their guests in a huge bus which was parked immediately in front of the club doors, so that we had to carry all our stuff inside through the pouring rain (my tux got quite a wash that day), and our guests had to park some distance away and swim to the building. Not to mention the $300-odd worth of rented chairs I watched float away on the tide.

Anyhow,

The curse returned yesterday, when we attended the wedding of our acquaintances Tom and Erika. Tom has been one of Agnes's students at the dance studio for a few years, and met Erika through his dancing.

We were treated to another near-Biblical rainstorm...we drove to the ceremony through rain so hard we literally couldn't see the road. It rained so hard and so much that it flooded the church, trapping the bride in the basement behind six inches of water until the resourceful ushers and groomsmen were able to build a bridge of chairs to help her get across the river to the stairs without ruining her gown. After the ceremony, we all stayed in the church waiting for the rain to end, and occupied the time by taking so many pictures that the members of the wedding party had flash burns.

It all worked out, but I just know that old gypsy woman was laughing at me from wherever old gypsies go when the shuffle off their mortal coils.

A few pictures...

Ben and I managed to clean up well enough that Agnes didn't object to being seen with us. You can't see our wet feet in this picture.

In spite of floods and stress, Erika was a beautiful bride, and Tom looked pretty good in his tail coat. They decided they also needed a picture with their dance teachers...

Our intrepid friend Nadja (yes, she of the famous shoes) was also along, and managed to relax while we waited for the storms to pass...

And what sort of story about a wedding would this be without one photo of the beautiful bride?

Today, the weather seems to have cleared up. After our dance practice this morning, I may even be able to get some work done in the garden.

Just don't tell that gypsy woman, okay?

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo