By Staff
Everyone says weddings don't go perfectly and you have to roll with the punches.
When I was leaving my house for the long trip to New England for my son Shane's wedding, I noticed a spot of blue under the garage door.
The blue was my outfit for this elegant wedding - lying in sand and dirt on the the garage floor, under the door.
Being silky, it had slipped from the hanger and fallen as I was packing up the trunk.
I had to just laugh. You really can't do much more than that.
It reminded me of the time we were leaving on vacation and Shane, under 2, somehow fell into the toilet, just as we were ready to leave.
Thinking his clothes would mildew, I spread them out in the garage to dry, to be washed when we returned.
Really he was blessed with a wonderful picture-perfect wedding. Not only did his aunts and uncles, cousins and friends make the trip, a large group of his friends from St. Joseph, Ind., High School also came to help him celebrate.
I was glad, though, that the electricity returned to my cottage by the sea just in time to shower. A tree fell during the night and hit a transformer.
No heat, hot water or lights that morning.
Really, the only bad thing in the more than 2,500 miles I drove in the 10 days I was gone was the constant, and I do mean constant, rain.
I did a photographer's worst thing to do and took a photo of a lighthouse through my car window.
From the time I left the rain didn't stop until the last morning, coming through Canada after a nighttime trip to see Niagara Falls. Even then it still rained during the day.
I was a little confused as to which border I crossed, as the sign in the motel in Canada read, “Don't drink the water.”
From the rehearsal dinner clambake with mussels, clams and a whole lobster to the filet mignon at the wedding feast, the food was fantastic.
It was also the peak weekend, according to newscasters, to see the colors in New Hampshire, where the wedding was actually held in the bride's hometown church.
At least the flooding that state suffered that week wasn't in the area we had to travel. Wind and rain caused the trees to lose more than 50 percent of their leaves.
The couple rented a trolley to take us to the church on time and back to the reception in Maine.
The only thing was the rain was so bad, the trolley windows leaked and many of us ended up cold and wet.
Which would have been okay, if the church boiler hadn't broken.
Father made a plea for donations to get the ancient monster fixed. The Irish priest was a delight and full of blarney. We even prayed that Shane, a long-suffering Cub fan, would someday see a World Series win.
At least he got a winner with Jessica. She is wonderful.