Off By One

Well, I can’t say that this past weekend was a terrific one.

Oh, the details were mostly good. I had a good trip with Char, during which she either slept or was happy to chat with me continuously about a whole host of interesting things (PolySci == good conversation). However, the details — from some social awkwardness at the wedding itself (on my part, sadly) to some bad news from home (ask Char; it’s her story to tell) meant that the trip turned out to be less happy than I’d hoped.

I wish it had been more cheery, but I suppose I still enjoyed the trip; the company was excellent, and even if the details were bad it doesn’t mean that there was no value in it.

Wedding is now done…

Wow. Okay, it wasn’t exactly rocket science, but there was a fair amount of work and responsibility involved in getting that wedding to go off smoothly for Beau and Sarah. At some point, when i have them in a digital form, i’ll have to post some pics… (Since you asked so nicely, John…)

Other than that, well, the week has gone nicely. I’ve had a nice time traveling with Char, stresses and strains notwithstanding. We’ve now reached the last of our modes of transporation for the trip, having added limousine to the list, and i am now awaiting boarding for Westjet flight 37 to Edmonton. You wanna know what’s neato? Wireless internet. I’m typing this on my laptop, in the boarding gate, on the vancouver aiport’s free wireless internet connection. This makes me deeply happy

So, about the wedding: The whole setting was just amazing; Sarah’s parents’ house is set overlooking the ocean with tons of trees, big windows, and nice beaches… Just gorgeous. For those who’ve never seen it (all of you?) i was actually in a tuxedo, looking dashing all the way…

oh… gotta run…. boarding the plane. more later…

Char and i have now arrived in Victoria, and are getting settled preparatory to the wedding on saturday. Plans seem, fortunately, to be more or less set already, which is good, because that means that i have very little work to put in to the party. Yay!

Char made an interesting comment on the ferry across to the island, she said that between leaving Edmonton and returning on Monday, we will have traveled by train, plane, car, bus, boat, foot, and possibly bicycle throughout the trip.

The train trip was nifty. Granted, it was dark when the part that i would really have loved to have seen passed us by, but i did get to see the rocky mountains pass us by as the sun set behind the heavy clouds. It was very pretty, and a perspective on the mountains that i do not usually get on them - the road was often on the other side of the Thompson river from us, and that’s where i would usually have seen it from.

Now, to see the man wed. This is gonna be great!

I attended the wedding of one of my best friends this weekend… I hadn’t posted on it sooner, simply because i wasn’t quite sure what i should say on the subject. Amanda was - and is - one of the best people i’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. She brought more happiness into my life in the one year that we were together than most people have ever managed - and the exceptions are notable in their scarcity, and i’m sure that they know who they are. Our time together is still a source of happy memories and occasional nostalgic regrets.

So, it was with no small amount of trepidation that i went to attend her wedding to Greg (i suppose i should learn his last name, huh?) at five-mile hall in Grande Prairie this weekend. I didn’t really know what i would feel, nor was i really sure that i belonged there.

What i did feel was, oddly enough, pretty much unmixed, unalloyed happiness for Amanda. As far as i can recall, not a twinge of jealousy, not even one. I saw her take the vows that i had once thought would be to me and could barely contain tears of happiness for her. I guess, in the end, although i still love her, and i always will, her happiness is what makes me happy.

The rest of the wedding was a bit of a surprise, too. There is a whole circle of friends that i know through - or related to - Amanda, and i haven’t really kept up with any of them over they years. I suspect now that my distancing myself from them - specifically Peggy - was a side effect of the pain of losing Amanda, since my associations with that were so strong, and when she left me, it coloured all of my memories of that time with a layer of hurt.. It’s really my loss, because i also remember Peggy being one of the nicest people i knew, and it’s obvious from the wedding that some things, at any rate, don’t change.

The surprise was mostly, though, in how little i felt out of place. I was concerned - and rightly so, it turns out - that i wouldn’t know anybody at the wedding except members of the bridal party, so i was a bit worried that i’d end up sitting in a corner brooding, talking to Char and nobody else all evening - not that talking to Char is a bad thing! Instead, i ended up meeting a couple of very nice couples, and a few individuals with whom Char and i chatted through the whole dinner. I can thank Amy and Clare (I haven’t the slightest idea how to spell his name, so that’s probably wrong) for starting it off, and then Christie and Scott and Sylvie(a?) and Anthony who joined us later. It was a good night, and there were good people there.

I also had the good fortune of stealing the first dance with Amanda, something that i think surprised her only a little bit more than it did Char

Anyway, Amanda, if you read this at all - and from Pegs’ comment on the math line, i know you’ve at least seen it - be well, and like the card says, seek to bring love into each others’ days for all of them.

I’m writing this entry from the house i pretty much grew up in, up in Grande Prairie. It still looks nearly 100% the same, cosmetic differences aside. I mean, furniture is arranged a bit differently, and the damned dog’s piss has killed half the back yard, but little has changed.

So, i’m back. Yeah, only for a weekend, and i’ve been back before, but this time is a bit different. I’m back to see an ending and a beginning, and a good thing in all, in the wedding of one of my best friends, and one of the most special people that’ve ever been part of my life. So, i’m doing a lot of reflecting. And then, talking to Terra, whose name i probably just misspelled, about the years that have passed since i last lived here… Just one of those nostalgic weekends.

Bah. I’m going nowhere with this, so i’m going to stop talking. Just this: Hold on to your past, folks. Sometimes, just maybe, it does ya good to keep it.

Cheers.