After all the preparation, and a few mishaps on Friday, the day was finally here. Everyone looked great, and Heather was radiant. She looked beautiful in her angel-winged gown. Jason was handsome and smiling away as Heather’s Dad walked her down the aisle. Jay and Heather’s friend Sue performed the ceremony. All the groomsmen and bridesmaids looked great. The guys in their gray pants, white shirts, gray sports jackets and Nike sneakers. The girls in fall colors in pretty lace dresses–maroon, purple, green, and navy blue. Their bouquets were fall colors of yellow, orange, red and green.

Jay & Heather’s Wedding

It was a nice ceremony and before we knew it, Jason and Heather were married! Immediately after the ceremony a series of picture taking began. The guests were feasting on an assortment of appetizers that were delicious. I snuck away for a few minutes to grab some!
Before we knew it, the caterer had arrived and everyone helped themselves to a wonderful dinner of fried chicken, barbequed ribs, macaroni & cheese, browned potatoes, carrots, and salad.

Jay and Heather danced to . . . don’t even remember the song!!! A while later Jason came and got me for the mother/son dance. I was so afraid that I was going to cry, but I didn’t. Jason and I talked the entire time we danced and we had a great time enjoying each other! A while after that Heather and her Dad danced and Butch really did a great job. He got into it. He was twirling Heather around. Don’t know the name of the song they danced to either!

I didn’t get to see everyone. It’s tough when there’s so many people and you want to spend a bit of time with everyone. I did enjoy visiting with those I got to talk to.  I had fun dancing with my friends Nancy and Julie – my daughter Julie joined us for a while too.
John McGrath, best man, gave a nice speech, followed by Donna Villandry, maid of honor, who did a great job. Then Julie got up and spoke and had everyone laughing and crying. She reminesced about growing up with her brother. It was really nice.

I got to re-meet Butch’s sister Darlene. Darlene sent me a card shortly after I was diagnosed with a note that her church was praying for me. I had only met her once and was very humbled by her outpouring of love. We embraced and talked for a while about my situation.
It was my off week for the pills so I was feeling good. I did need to take care of my mouth after I ate dinner, but that was it. No runny eyes, etc.
Before we knew it, people started to clean up. Tables needed to be taken down, chairs had to be piled, tableclothes had to be folded, etc., etc. A great group just got into action and did an awesome job.
It was just a beautiful, wonderful day and things couldn’t have gone better. We’ve gotten many compliements on how much everyone enjoyed the day, the food and the laid back atmosphere.

Newlyweds

Wishing Jason and Heather many years of love and happiness.
I’ve included some pictures here, but I can’t include all that I have as there’s over 200. And we haven’t even gotten the pictures Kenny took yet!!! If you go to my Facebook page, you can see the pictures.
Thank you everyone for your continued support, prayers and love! You are my strength.

We decided to head up to New Hampshire on Friday, September 4th. Julie arrived home Wednesday. So, Ray, Julie and I left East Hartford around 2 pm. We arrived at the lake house rented by Susan and Tim around 5:30.

Lake House in Whitefield, NH

Jay and Heather arrived around 7-7:30. The first thing Jay did was put a line in the lake. He loves to fish. The house was beautiful and perfect for our crowd. Sue, Tim, Ray, me, Julie, Jason, Heather, Diane, Bruce and Hank stayed Friday night. Alisha and Adam joined us Saturday. There was plenty of room for all of us.
Kelly and Ryan’s wedding was at 4:30 on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and actually a bit warm. We had a little walk through the woods to get to the ceremony location. As we approached the site, some woman yells out ‘Stop!’. I just kept going. She yells ‘Stop!’ again! I said something like, ‘are you talking to me?’ and stopped. She says ‘yes, can’t you see I have a camera around my neck?’ I’m thinking, so what, big deal. I’m out of breath and I just want to sit down. Then she says, ‘Marissa wants some candids.’ (Marissa is Ryan’s Mom. I went to high school with her and she was in my sorority. She’s a couple years younger.) Anyhow, I just kept walking. I guess she didn’t know that candids are pictures taken that people don’t know are being taken. LOL

Kelly and Ryan’s Wedding Ceremony

Anyhow, the ceremony was beautiful. Kelly was radiant. Elaine was beautiful and Jim was trying to keep his emotions in check (looked handsome too!)  I felt myself choke up when Kelly came down the aisle. They planted a tree as a reminder of their marriage site. The site was beautiful with the pond and Jim and Elaine’s home in the background.
When the ceremony was over we had to go on the other side of the pond to the reception site. Ray got the golf cart and drove me over there. He then taxied a few others over.
They had a huge tent for the reception that was set up with long tables beautifully decorated. Everything was wonderful. The woman had a special ‘port-a-potty’. The entrance had a sign ‘No Boys Allowed’. So cute. You went in the door and there was a room with a couple of chairs, a window w/frilly curtains and a table with assorted toiletries. Then there was a door where the toilet was – this room was huge and equipped with an air conditioning, a sink, a changing table, and several cabinets. It was beautiful and a nice touch for the ladies in attendance.

It was great seeing some old friends and just being with family. Visited with all of Jim’s friends too. Met one of Elaine’s long-time friends.
My mouth wasn’t cooperating the entire time there, but I managed and had my props with me to make it as comfortable as I could. Ray and I danced several times and I danced with Julie, Diane and Susan.
Kelly was beaming the entire time. I never saw her without a smile on her face. Her wedding gown was absolutely gorgeous. Ryan was obviously very happy too. Everyone had a great time. The gang stayed up for a while after the wedding.

Julie and Jason stayed up late Friday night and there were reports of them singing and reminiscing about the ‘good old days’. Julie also was encouraging Uncle Bruce ‘to hit a moose’ on the way home from the wedding! She insisted it would feed us all for a month! LOL
I slept in a little on Sunday. I was beat. We packed up and Ray, Jason, Heather and I headed home. Julie stayed for the remainder of the weekend and then went to Boston and Lake Placid to visit friends before returning to East Hartford. I pretty much slept all the way home except for a stop to get something to eat. It was a great weekend, wonderful, fun wedding. It was time to rest up for Jason and Heather’s wedding in two weeks.