Back And Forth In Time

 We're home. We got in around eleven last night and it was about the longest day ever. We unloaded the car and fell in the bed and slept. 
Slept and slept and slept.
I didn't get up until almost nine although Mr. Moon had gotten up and gone on in to work.
My work is here. Ooh boy. Is it ever.

But. It was so very much worth it and last night as we were driving home, a HUGE rainbow appeared to the east of us. It was the most spectacular rainbow I think I've ever seen. It stretched all the way across the sky and Hank and I were texting each other about it because they were in approximately the same vicinity and when we pulled off the highway to get gas with the rain coming down and the wind whipping in huge gusts that threatened to lift us up and take us to Oz, a woman in the restroom said, "Did you SEE that rainbow?" and everyone was talking about it. It was, like the whole week, really something.

The day started yesterday with us going down to the camp for a breakfast and the joy had not abated. Believe me. Lon and Lis had to leave but before they took off, the four of us posed for a picture because obviously we had all gotten the memo as to what to wear. It was hysterical. The men matched and so did the women.
Here's what we looked like, yesterday morning and I'd already cried a few times.

And of course, when they left, I cried again. 

When I was cleaning up the house before we left, I felt as if I was moving away from a much beloved home. We had done so much living in that house in less than one week. First Lis and I there alone and then all of the family coming in and Jessie and Melissa stayed there the night before the wedding and Billy and Shayla and Waylon stayed the night of the wedding. Here's a picture of them as they were leaving yesterday morning.

Do you know how much I love them? Probably. Maybe. 

Anyway, back to the house. Gibson walked all over those floors and on the porch and Owen played on the tire swing out to the side of the house and we cooked so many meals in the kitchen and we did so many loads of laundry and the ladies got ready for the wedding there and so all of these images were in my head. 

Okay. Here's a rather random thing- when the girls were getting ready, I went down to help and Pearl, Vergil's sister, who was one of the bridesmaids, asked if I could help her with her hair and of course I did and I was standing there behind her, trying with inadequate pins and clips to create a hairdo for this woman I barely know but to whom I was about to be bonded to for life, and Steel Magnolias came back to me because in that play, I spent the entire time on stage making a wedding hairdo for Shelby, and I cried again. All these little circles and all this joy. I was so grateful to be able to do that for Pearl. To have my hands in her hair to help prepare for this event. Pearl has a wonderful husband, Ben, and a beautiful baby daughter only a few months younger than Gibson. 

Okay. Where was I going? 

I don't know.

Cleaning the house. Packing up left-over food and booze and all of the sheets and towels we'd used and wiping down the kitchen and that long table where we'd eaten and sat at night to laugh and watch Whip My Hair and Lis making her ribbon flowers which all of the bridesmaids wore and it was just so powerful. We had LIVED in that house. All of us.

More pictures from the wedding. First, the wedding cake. 

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? Top layer, Russian Chocolate. That is the anniversary cake. Second layer, carrot. Bottom layer, lemon buttermilk. And of course there was the chocolate groom's cake. 

Those are Vergil's initials on top. And Lis put both their initials on the top of the bride's cake.

Weatherford. Moon.

There were the truffles too, and Lis and Liz and I served plate after plate and almost everyone wanted what we were soon calling The Sampler Platter which was a slice of each except for that top layer which will not be touched for a year.

Here's Mr. Moon, waiting to take the bride down the aisle with me.

The daddy, my husband, my tall, handsome love. May and Melissa in the background.

Lis sent me this picture which she took of us walking her down the aisle as musicians played Here Comes The Sun. Do you think I was crying? 

And Owen DID perform his ring-bearer duties! Oh bless his heart. That is one of my favorite memories and images. Boppy walked him down to where the people were seated and he was perfect. When he got to all of the people though, he had a moment and put the pillow (and why don't I have a picture of that? and of course Lis made that too) to his face and stood there for a second so Boppy encouraged him and directed him to where his mama was standing up front and he bravely soldiered on and made it all the way to the front. I was SO proud of him. 

Vergil wore a beige linen suit that he'd picked out all by himself and he was such a handsome groom. The ceremony under the beautiful bower that Lon and Glen built with Matt's help went lovely. There were two ladies who sang, holding hands, sisters, and their voices rose in perfect, loving harmony and we all cried. Vergil's Aunt Susan read from first Corinthians, the verses about love, which Vergil's grandmother had picked out. She ended by saying, "This is the word of the Lord," and it was so solemn and when I got up to read what I had written what popped out of my mouth first? "These are NOT the words of the Lord," and then I thought, "Oh shit." And then I thought, "Oh well," and then I read my own words which were about Jessie and her birth and how she is so filled with light and joy and love and how she dances through this life and how Vergil is the same way and now it is time for them to dance together, always, and to not stop dancing. And Jessie said, "Yes, ma'am," and everyone cried again, including me. And then Barbara, the officiant, said beautiful things and Jessie and Vergil said beautiful things and what Jessie read was the journal entry she'd written about meeting that boy and in it she'd said, "I think this may be the one. I think he may be my husband." And she stopped reading and looked up at Vergil and she said, "I did! I really said that!" And when Barbara asked Vergil if he would do all the things that officiants ask of the married couple, instead of saying, "I do," he said, "Absolutely!"

God. I am crying again.

They were radiant. As bright as the sun was that day, Vergil and Jessie outshone it. 

Okay. More pictures from the party which was the most fun party I think I've ever been to. I actually have video of the first dance which they did to a waltz which Lon and Lis played but I have yet to figure out how to get it posted. I will. They were so incredibly graceful. 

And here's another amazing pair of dancers:

Jason and Hap, Vergil's stepdad, dancing to Beat It. I am not kidding you. They cleared the floor. Lily looking on in amazement. There was so much dancing. Owen even danced with a darling little girl who sort of forced him into it, and I wish I had a picture with all my heart but I do not. Here he is, loving his best girl, his mama.

Another thing I don't have a picture of except in my mind, where it will stay forever, is of Gibson walking all the way across the room, shaking a Mento's container with gum in it, right towards his grandfather as Hap gave his toast and Mr. Moon was waiting to give his. It was such a solemn, loving toast and there went Gibson, little man in a suit, shake, shake, shaking that gum, walking on his ever-more steady legs to his grandfather. 

Here he is, sleeping in Liz's arms. 

That is my other Liz. You've seen her, you know her. But you don't really know her or what all she did for this wedding. And she's been a part of Jessie's life since birth since she was with me on the day Jessie was born. She is...well, I don't even know how to say. Her last name is Sparks. And that is perfect. She is the most say-yes to life woman I've ever met and I doubt I could ever have had more of a blessing than in my two Lizzies. Liz decorated the hall and the tables and the flower decorations and gathered flowers and- okay. Look. I can't even begin to tell you how big a part of this thing she is. Jessie lived with her in town when she went to college. And I can't even begin to tell you the role she has played in Jessie's life. Just like her Lis. Jessie's fairy godmothers. 

Lis and Liz. 

Everyone just gave and gave and gave for this wedding. Vergil's parents are the most remarkable people and I fell completely in love with Julia, Vergil's amazing mother. She is one of the most remarkable women I've ever met. We are Sister Mamas now. And I feel so honored to be. She and Hap and Vergil's bio-dad and his wife all are part of the reason Vergil is the way he is and need I say more? I could. Believe me. But Hap and Julia made this thing happen. They did. 

I don't even have an inkling what all they did to make this happen. I am eternally in their debt. 

There was so much loving help. May and Lily, of course, attended to Jessie and all the tiny details. As did Melissa. And Matt was always there to help wherever help was needed from the bower to watching the children, which he is so good at. And may I say that he caught the garter? Mmmmmm....

Jason, who is the best father in the world, did everything from getting his sons dressed for the wedding to going on the wild men's river trip and telling all those guys what it means to be married and a father. 

And I haven't even mentioned Vergil's crew. Such a grand merry crew of men and women who played music and made food and brewed beer and cleaned up and canoed across the lake and again, I don't even know what all. If there were ever a more community-based, hand-made wedding, I've yet to hear of it.

Oh god! I haven't even mentioned Hank and how he was the Emcee of the whole event. He did the songlists and made the dancing music happen and he kept everyone on schedule with dining and toasts and he was wonderful. And the food! The very best barbecue ever eaten and it was a feast and there was even barbecued tofu. You dined like a king if you were a carnivore or a vegan. It was all there for you. 

And the quilt which Julia and Pearl organized. That was the secret wedding stuff that I kept talking about after my mother died. It was a surprise for Jessie and Vergil. Everyone had made squares and Julia and Pearl got them all made up into a quilt for the couple. 

Okay. I have to stop soon. I have a million loads of laundry to do. That bamboo is almost as tall as I am and as big around as my ankle. I haven't unpacked a thing but my toothbrush. The hallway needs mopping because of the dogs. Which I do not wish to discuss and yes, they are still alive. As are the chickens, which I AM grateful for.

At the end of the night of the wedding (for me, at least) a great many of the younger people had gone off to jam in one of the lodges but some of us stayed behind to continue dancing. Hank was playing the booty music by then and all of us old people were on the dance floor, being lewd and happy and even Lis Williamson danced! I was there to witness it! Put my hand on the Bible. We danced around Jessie and we shook our tailfeathers and no one's hip popped out of joint and it was tribal. It was magnificent. 

As it all was.

I just spoke to Lis. And we cried again. She and Lon drove my car back home last night and she has to get in that thing and drive it over here to pick up her car today. I just said, "Can't you spend the night and we can have martinis and talk about it all?"

She is tempted but I know she has to get home and, like me, resume her normal life. 

Our blessed, normal lives. 

And I should feel guilty about sitting here this morning writing this when so much needs to be done but you know what? I do not. Jessie told me yesterday that right before she and Vergil went to sleep on Saturday night, he said to her, "I can't wait to see what your mama says on the blog about it all."

Can you believe that?

I'm crying again. 

And I'm thinking of all the things I haven't mentioned like people who came from so far away like Mr. Moon's sister, Brenda and my friend Kerry and I'm thinking of the shot of tequila a group of us did in Liz Spark's room in the lodge and I'm thinking of Jessie, in the middle of the ceremony saying, her voice choked with love and with tears, "I love you Vergil Weatherford!"and how it was maybe the truest thing she's ever said, and I am thinking of Vergil flinging off his tie and getting down on his knees to retrieve with his teeth the garter that May made for her sister off of Jessie's leg, half his entire body under that confection of a dress, I am thinking of all the tears, all the joy. I am thinking of dancing with my husband, my daughter, my new family, my tribal women friends and my daughters. I am thinking of my husband dancing with his daughter. I am thinking of Glen and Vergil dancing together. I am thinking of Stephanie saying, "Well, I can't ever have a wedding now. After this one, there can never be another to compare." And I'm thinking of the tiny remote controlled airplane with it's banner saying Jessie and Vergil flying over the pond as those groomsmen canoed in and how corny and wonderful and glorious it all was and I am thinking of Owen waking up in the mornings and saying, "Good morning! Are there pancakes?" and I am thinking of being with my family in that house and I am thinking of how we have more family now and such a GOOD family and I am thinking that yes, we performed a sacred ritual from the sharing of tequila to the making of cakes to the changing of poopy diapers to the worry and the transcendence to the saying of the words to the dancing to the hugging and the crying and the laughing and the singing and the glory of it all. 

And now I must bring myself back here, to Lloyd, to get this mountain of laundry done, to go collect the mail, to make some sense of it all. The potatoes are growing up high, the peas are climbing the fence, the tomatoes are growing, that bamboo is taking over. It is blue-skyed, it is home and Jessie and Vergil will be getting on a plane and flying to Rome and then, after a week in Italy, will go to Bhutan where there will be another wedding. 

So it goes. It never stops and this is the thing- every now and then we are privileged beyond measure to be part of something huge which celebrates so much love that there is hardly room to contain it. And we do not have to contain it. It contains us and is part of us all and in this celebration, we are all made better. We come together and with our own love, our work, our talents, our joy, we somehow refine and make more of it. And then we go on about our normal lives, more conscious than before of the very miracle of them. 

Good morning.

Love...Ms. Moon