Ann's Wedding

I went to a wedding today. Ann, my best friend from our painful days in middle school and slightly more tolerable days in high school, tied the knot. It was kind of strange for me. I haven't lived in Kentucky since I graduated from high school 10 (!) years ago, so I saw people at this wedding I haven't seen in a decade. It brought back lots of memories, like waiting at the bus stop with Ann when we were in sixth grade. Her older brother Everett waited for the high school bus across the street. I remember that we called him "Bubba" and that he sprained his ankle that year. In high school, I started going to church with her because I didn't fit in with the youth group at my parents' church. I went to church camp with her for two summers in a row, the kind of church camp with Bible drills and tent-revival-esque evening worship services and lots and lots of praise songs with guitars and overheads, the kind of church camp I would never, ever send my kid to today. I cringe to think about how immature I was at 15.

We sort of drifted apart at the end of high school. I am now more aware of some of the stuff she was going through, but I'll keep that private. Suffice it to say, I regret that I wasn't sensitive or understanding enough to empathize with my friends' problems at that time in my life. I hope I've improved in that respect.

The groom is from India, so the wedding was telecast to his family there. Ann looked beautiful. The ceremony was lovely, and it was also, to borrow a word from Anne Lamott, Jesus-y. There were many prayers, one even in the groom's native language, and they chose some heavy-hitters for Scripture readings, the evangelical-salvation-oriented verses like the one with the phrase "every knee shall bow." Still, there were some eclectic reminders that this was the same, goofy Ann I met at the bus stop. For one thing, the recessional was a recording of Elvis Presley's "I'm all shook up."

I wondered if I would see any other high school friends, and that made me a little nervous. It turned out that the only one was my friend Jennifer, who was one of the bridesmaids. She has a blog, too, and as soon as I get it together enough to actually put links on this blog, I'll put it on the not-yet-existent blogroll.

Tomorrow I return to Madison, to my own house with a high speed internet connection, and to my husband, whom I miss terribly right now. He went back home on Tuesday, and it's the first time he's been away from me and the baby overnight. Jennifer is a single mother of an 8-yr-old boy. I've always respected her for raising him on her own, but now that I have a child myself, I have to say I don't know how she's managed. Parenting is hard enough when you've got a partner to help you. I've only been alone with my child for a few days, and I have my mom and dad to hold him when I need a break, and I'm still exhausted. Kudos, Jenn.