Tracey and Dave’s wedding last Saturday is a case in point.
Aw, it was such a glorious day, from start to finish, and I would’ve loved to
have written about it. The weather couldn’t have been better – the sun was
splitting the heavens – and the conservatory of the Stirling Management Centre
(where the wedding was held) was bathed in sunshine. Tracey was absolutely
stunning – as was the whole wedding party, but with none being a patch on our
beautiful bride – and she smiled from the moment she walked down the aisle with
her very proud Dad till the moment I last saw her that day; sitting in the bar
with her husband in the wee small hours (the last to leave the party!). The
ceremony was just lovely and I managed to read my poem without stumbling on any
of the words! Hooray! It seemed to go down well; Tracey and Dave loved it and
that’s really all that mattered. Drinks and canapés out in the sunshine,
followed by a few more drinks in the bar, preceded the speeches and meal. Aw
man, the speeches were so emotional. Tracey’s Dad, Brian, was really nervous
but that didn’t detract at all from how very proud he was of his gorgeous wee
Princess (who’s now in her thirties but will always be his gorgeous wee
Princess!) and how very happy he was about welcoming such a great son-in-law to
his family. Dave’s speech was awesome. His emotions were almost tangible; I
felt like I could reach out and touch the love that was spilling out of him as
he spoke. It was so, so lovely and a real privilege to be there; it’s not often
you witness folk being so honest and real about how they feel – especially when
it meant that the Best Man won the ‘will he/won’t he cry’ bet hands down! The
Best Man (Darryl)’s, speech was great too and the overriding theme from
everyone who spoke on the day was just how ‘right’ Tracey and Dave are for each
other. They’re actually just meant to be... Dancing, more food and drink, good fun with
good friends and lots of laughs followed before we finally hit the sack in the
wee small hours. Ocht, it was just very special and it left me feeling all warm
and fuzzy inside!
So, that’s one thing that I wanted to write about but
couldn’t find the time. One of the other things was a visit from one of my
choir friends to the hospice. Mair, who plays the flute beautifully, came along
to Day Care and totally wowed the patients and staff. I’m absolutely kicking
myself that I didn’t video any of it; you’ll just have to take my word for it
that she was awesome. Not only did the patients enjoy listening to Mair play
flute, they also thoroughly enjoyed listening to her sing. One of my other good
friends from choir, Cara, is working on a student placement at Strathcarron at
the moment so we got together with Mair and sang a few songs. Aw man, we had
such good fun – and I think the patients and staff enjoyed it too! I’m still
loving working at the hospice and trying to keep the music initiative going as
much as I can. There are only so many hours I can commit to as a volunteer
though, so I really need to work harder at getting more volunteers on board.
Problem is, I enjoy doing it so much and don’t really want to give too much of
it up! I can think of worse problems to have!
The other thing I didn’t find time to write about was a trip
to the theatre with Alex and Gordon. I’ve written before about how proud we
were of Gordon for doing so well in his exams and this wee trip was his ‘Well
Done’ pressie. You’re maybe thinking we’re a bit weird; most kids get money
these days when they do well, but I prefer to give a ‘thing’ that the kids will
remember as a symbol of how proud we are. Whether it’s a book, a trip, a meal
out, or whatever; it’s something that they’ve either chosen or that we know is
something special that they’ll enjoy. Gordon loves going to the cinema and the
theatre, so he chose to go see Phantom of the Opera at the Playhouse in
Edinburgh. The three of us had a great night out, Gordon absolutely loved the
show, and I just love that we share a passion for the musicals. Phantom’s one
of Alex’s favourites too, so it was a big thumbs up all round!
Of course, as with most weeks, I had to take the bad or sad
along with the good, but this week had a particularly sad edge to it as a special
relative of mine died. I don’t want to write anything much about it now, but I
think it’s important to highlight the fact that just because I write posts on a
blog called ‘What’s Making Me Feel Good Today..?’ it doesn’t mean that things
don’t happen that make me feel bad or sad. It wouldn’t be real life if that was
the case, would it?
Well, there we go, after saying that I didn’t have the time
to write about stuff that’s happened this week, I’ve written about stuff that’s
happened this week! This was supposed to be a
thinking-out-loud-helping-me-to-decide-if-I-should-stop-writing-my-blog kind of
post. Ocht, maybe I’ll just leave all that for another day, a day when I’ve got
a wee bit more time on my hands....
In the meantime, here’s a wee video of the poem I wrote and
read out during the Wedding ceremony. I recorded this for Tracey and Dave
before the wedding, so that we had the opportunity to change any part of it
they didn’t like. Fortunately, they were delighted with it as it was. As you’ll
hear, it’s definitely not Shakespeare, and it’s more of a wee ditty than a
poem, but – just like all the other speeches that day – it hopefully sums up our
lovely Bride and Groom. It’s called ‘Just Meant To Be’:
