Here is part deux of wedding week & the thin line. When I tell y'all I was all over the place, I was all over the place. Am I crazy? Hindsight gives a resounding yes. What do you do but own it & move on? Maybe take a nap or eat some leftover wedding cake. ;) Anyway, here's the rest of the story.
Wednesday I moved my departure time from mid-day to mid-morning so I can get my errands done for the wedding & pick Hopson up from his Birmingham office. (don't forget his transmission decided it was d.o.n.e.) I was blowin' & goin'. My last stop before going to the hotel was the florist to get the flowers to make the table decorations for the rehearsal dinner. Did I mention that Sunday was Mother's Day? Totally forgot & the wholesale florist was the most popular place to be Wednesday. They were slammed. I wait my turn to pick up the flowers I have paid for & guess what? The white hydrangeas I ordered didn't make the truck & there are none in Birmingham. No worries, we don't stress over flowers, because they're flowers & no one's life is dependent on them. Daniel, my contact at Davis Wholesale, was amazing & helped me find a replacement, which smelled absolutely yummy. If you've never purchased Stock I highly recommend them. They smell amazing & are so pretty when they open. They also have a pretty shape and color of leaves that added depth to my arrangements. Flowers, check. Away I go to check-in to the hotel. This is the last breath I will take until Sunday morning.
I basically moved into the Tutwiler Hotel. (They are AMAZING! Highly recommend using the Tutwiler. Their staff treated us like crazy family members in for a visit. They remembered our names & faces the entire weekend.) It took me 3 trips to get the flowers, my baggage & everything else I brought from home for the rehearsal dinner. I have enough clothes to wear for a month. Remember I'm switching hats from MOG to lax mom & back to MOG. I'm looking around for my hanging bag that has all my dresses & suddenly realize I left all of them at home. In my mind's eye, I see them hanging on my closet door right where I left them. Right on, but no worries, because Thursday I'm heading home to watch the semi-finals for lacrosse. I'll swing home, pick up my dresses, and the champagne flutes I forgot as well, and hopefully find my brain I obviously have let get out of my head. I get everything organized for Thursday's flower assembly before we leave, and Hopson & I the happy couple for dinner. What's so funny, is that I can't, for the life of me, remember where we ate.
Thursday arrives & I knock out the flower arrangements. I get my tires rotated and balanced, because why not cram one more thing into our schedule & I pick up Hopson and we head home for a lacrosse game.
Time out right here for a public service announcement. I believe in treating others how I would like to be treated. (If you're a Christian you're commanded to do this BTW.) I have taught my children to be kind to others. For all you other loser parents who try to justify your child's awful behavior, I need you to stop what you are doing & know you are raising hateful little jerks & none of us appreciate it. There is NO EXCUSE for bullying. If you're touting all the 'Be Kind' stuff, I need you to teach it to your children & not give any kind of excuse for their bullying. I'll get to the why behind the PSA in just a sec.
Where was I? Oh right, lacrosse playoffs. So, our team is crazy good. We're loaded with talented, athletic & most important, kids who have a team that feels more like family. The guys love each other & have each other's backs. We had a late start for our game, 8 PM. It was a long game that went into overtime with a heartbreaking loss in sudden death. It was awful. Henry was truly upset & really wanted to go to the championship game. Funny thing is, the championship game was being played at 6 PM Saturday night, right after the wedding ceremony. That didn't give me heart palpitations at all. Since we didn't win, we cried about the loss because it's the end of the Nance childrens' sports for the family, but time goes on. It's the end of an era for sure.
Here's the reason for the PSA. That night after the game, Henry received a DM on Instagram from a former teammate. It was short, meant to be a dig at Henry and our team & it was just mean. Here's the deal. You don't like my son, no problem, just move along. We really don't care, but for everything that is in me, I don't understand why you would want to send him a message if you don't like him. Henry took a screenshot of the message & sent it to me. The mama bear in me wanted to rear her very ugly head, but I was able to share this burden with other moms. (it made it so much easier to carry!) I'm not surprised by the message to be perfectly honest. Apple - tree...need I say more? I don't care what you say about me, but I care about what you say/do to my children, especially when they have done NOTHING to provoke said response. Walking the thin line. Fortunately, Henry has an amazing team who stand behind him & accept him, quirks and all. Ask me how I love this group! Ok, I'm over all of this. Just raise nice kids, OK? Onto more wedding stuff.
We all get to Birmingham Friday & the wedding craziness begins! Bridesmaid's luncheon at 11. E & I get back to the hotel at 2 and we start packing flowers & all the gear for the rehearsal dinner at The Gardens Cafe by Kathy G. I want to let you know if you ever have an event, you should use Kathy G. Her staff is absolutely INDREDIBLE. They did more than prepare the space & serve our food. They truly served me. When I was setting up the room they thought I was the florist & asked if I was the contact for the family. I told them I was the contact all right. Ha! Ha! I got the room all set up with the fam's help, get changed into my dress & really cute, but very uncomfortable shoes & my brother takes me to the church. Huge shout out to my brother for helping me rock the decorations. Of course his table looked the best. :/ And, now it's really getting real. We have a great rehearsal & back to the botanical gardens we go for dinner. I ride with Henry & as I get out of the car I hear the song by Notorious B.I.G, 'I love it when you call me Big Poppa' blaring from inside the Gardens. Um, ok, didn't realize there was prom going on, but it's all good. We thought about crashing, but we're a little old & kind of stood out.
Dinner was great, toasts were good & towards the end, Hopson (big) stands up & tells the bridal party that he'll have an open tab for them at the Grand Bohemian. Wait, what?! I wasn't expecting that. Not really a fan, but you just told kids who have been on their own for a few years & can appreciate the things they can't afford that you'll pay their tab. Oh gracious. Top shelf to you.... After we break down & pack up everything, we head over to the rooftop bar to hang out with the kids for a bit & close the tab. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be & I've always loved Hop's friends. They're crazy but loveable. We finally get back to the hotel for our last sleep before the wedding. The realness is setting in!!!
Saturday was a hair, makeup, hurry up & wait. And pictures upon pictures upon pictures. We couldn't have asked for a better day. No humidity, (great for crazy hair momma over here) sunshine & a slight breeze. It was beautiful. After Hop & Hannah had their first look & I was standing next to Hop while Hannah was having her pics made with their dogs & I asked Hop what he thought of Hannah's dress. He said he thought she was absolutely beautiful. (she really was) We made our way to the church for more pictures & 20 minutes before the service starts people really start filing in. I decided to take on the role of greeter, accidentally. With 5 minutes left before the service, our wedding director had to pull me into the back so people would sit down. We start lining up & I run over to Hannah give her a huge hug & here we go!
The ceremony was so wonderful. I spoke a blessing over Hop & Hannah at the rehearsal dinner, I decided I didn't care if it was normal practice, I had life to speak over them & I was going to do it. Funny thing was, their pastor spoke some of the same words in the service & Hannah looked at me and smiled. It is a memory I will treasure forever. One funny that happened during the exchanging of rings, Hannah put Hopson's band on his right hand instead of his left. He looked like he was trying to move his hand when she was putting the ring on, but then kind of gave up. It was pretty funny. The reception was crazy. Hop & I just got on the dance floor & decided to wing it with our dance. It was fine, but the dancer in me was cringing. I saw lots of friends that I haven't seen in forever & it was great to catch up.
At one point it hit me that it was 29 years to the day since we had buried my dad. He would have loved the reception. He would have been out on the dance floor cutting up with all the groomsmen. It all hit me like a ton of bricks. The death of my parents & many of their friends. There was so much they've all missed. Not because they chose to, but it still stung just the same. God has always been faithful & given me beauty for ashes & I am so thankful. The wedding is for sure a beautiful memory. The ever so thin line.
So they are married & we are doggie sitting for the week. It was a long weekend for the dogs, and I'm having to hand-feed them for them to eat. Would I do that for my own dogs, um no. I guess it's a taste of what kind of grandmother I'll be someday. If the babies want to be fed by hand in order to eat, I guess that's what I'll do. I can't send them home half-starved now can I??? ;)
We are now moving quickly towards Henry's high school graduation. Ugh, where has the time gone??? These last 27 1/2 years have been a blast & have passed so quickly. As we move into our next phase of parenthood, I know there are more memories and fun to be had. So until then, I'll continue to walk that thin line & be grateful for every breath & every second.
Counting my many blessings,
~ashley