Reflections on the Fourth Week of Winter

On the morning of my daughter's wedding, I, as mother of the bride, dressed carefully–new pantyhose and light green underwear to coordinate with dark green jeans. Curious, I emailed Ellen in West Lafayette, Indiana to ask if she were wearing her fancy blue dress. She answered, “I am wearing my work clothes since I am at work.” Spence had driven to Cleveland to lay bathroom tiles so, after a visit to Dr. Shawish late morning (increase restless leg medication and stay warm because this weather was bad for arthritis), I added logs to the wood stove fire and created a virtual celebration at Wells Wood–sewing a block for the quilt to commemorate Ellen and Chris' wedding. I measured, sewed, measured, ripped, measured, and sewed. Meanwhile, in West Lafayette, Chris got Ellen but had forgotten their papers. She called the judge's office to ask if they had time to go back for the paperwork. The secretary answered that Chris and Ellen weren't on the schedule but checked if the judge could do the ceremony in fifteen minutes. The judge, new to the job this January, agreed. The secretary printed the paperwork while Chris and Ellen travelled. The judge performed the ceremony, his first wedding ever. Ellen said, “It was casual. Chris wore jeans.”