CHAPTER 20: Shannon
It was October 29th, which was the day before the wedding. We had the rehearsal dinner at Chez-Maurice, and some of us were enjoying this French film called With A Friend Like Harry as it played on the TV in the background.
After I finished eating, Bart and I presented the gifts to our attendants. My attendants—Tiffany, Maria, Dru, Karen, and Marissa—each got a necklace; and Bart gave his older attendants—Peter (his cousin), as well as all three of Kristy's brothers—each a watch, and the ring bearer, my cousin, Liam, a tie.
A few minutes later, I was coming out of the ladies' room when I saw Bart. "Look, Shannon, I promise not to go sky-diving tomorrow," he said. "But if I do, I'll remember my mousse, and I'll definitely watch out for trees and tomato trucks."
I don't know how long it took us to stop laughing, but it sure felt like an eternity.
"That's very considerate of you," I said with a giggle.
Tomorrow is going to be the most beautiful day in the world.
The next morning, I woke to the sound of my alarm, not to mention Billy Idol's "White Wedding" blaring from my radio. I got up and looked at my wedding dress, and remembered a similar scene when the 1981 episode of I Love the '80s talked about the Luke and Laura wedding episode of General Hospital. Mom once told me that my grandparents were really disgusted when they saw it, because according to them, Luke had raped Laura in a previous episode. And I still remember what Aunt Yvonne had said when we recently talked about that episode: "Only on a soap opera. And maybe in Oz, too."
Well said, Aunt Yvonne.
After yawning and stretching, I got up and opened the drapes. The sun was shining, and there were red, yellow, orange, and brown leaves everywhere, both on the trees and on the ground. As I put on my robe, I remembered when Nancy Dawes told me how she thought the leaves looked like fireworks when they're in the sun. And she was right.
"Nice day for a white weddin'," Billy snarled to the music.
"I'm with you, Bill," I agreed. "I'm with you."
And isn't it a coincidence that a song that's supposedly anti-marriage is played at a lot of weddings nowadays?
After I took my shower and pill, I put on my yellow sweatshirt and jeans, packed my pills in my suitcase, and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Mom was fixing eggs Benedict—one of my all-time favorites—ham, marble-rye toast, and coffee.
"So, are you ready for your big day?" Mom asked as I sat down, and she set my food and a cup of coffee in front of me.
"Yeah, I'm a nervous wreck, but I think I can handle it," I answered.
"I know you will," Mom said reassuringly. "If I was able to survive mine, I know you'll do the same."
"Thanks, Mom," I said, taking a bite of eggs. "Well, for once, my shoulder isn't acting up, so that must be a good sign."
After I finished breakfast, Tiffany fixed my hair, then I put my going-away outfit in a bag: a white long-sleeved shirt with a picture of a Bernese mountain dog on it, jeans, and socks; hung my dress on the hook in the backseat of my car. My bag and suitcase were on the floor, since we were also taking my car to the airport after the reception. Then I put the plastic bag with my pantyhose and clear high-heeled pumps on top of my bag, and headed to the church.
When I arrived, I saw Karen and Dru arriving with their dresses. I'd asked them to wear pale yellow, even though it was late October, and got flowers to match. Kristy once told me that when her mom married Watson, that's what she and Karen wore.
Soon after they arrived, we saw Rev. Downey and his wife. He's going to retire in June, so our wedding would be one of his last, unless you count Byron Pike and Bebe Everett's, which was next month. Mom and my sisters took me into the church office and helped me change clothes, and Maria did my make-up, as Charlie arrived with Marissa. Mom handed out the bouquets of flowers to my attendants, and gave Marissa her basket to carry.
Before too long, everything got underway. Before the ceremony, there was the music. One song in particular that I remember is Kyle, Bart's brother, singing "Truly" by Lionel Richie while Mom and Mrs. Taylor were being escorted to their seats by Sam and Charlie. He's got such a powerful voice for a sixteen-year-old, and the song was just beautiful.
After Kyle had finished singing and the applause died down, it was time for my attendants to walk down the aisle. Karen went first, then Maria, then Tiffany, then Dru, and finally Marissa. As soon as Marissa was halfway down the aisle, she turned around and frantically tried to pick up the petals, but I heard Kathy saying, "No, honey, you're supposed to drop them."
Then it was time for Dad to walk me down the aisle. As we started walking past the pews, I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw a tear rolling down Dad's face. I wouldn't have expected to see him cry until it was Maria's turn to get married. "It's okay, Dad," I whispered.
"I know," he whispered back. Just then, I saw Mary Anne pull a tissue out of her purse and dab at her eyes. I thought for sure that she was going to get me started, and that was the last thing I wanted to happen. I'm still impressed at how I was able to hold it together. And besides, Maria had put the blue eyeliner on me, and if I'd cried, it would've taken forever to clean the mess off my face and dress sleeve. Besides, getting those stains out of what material is next to impossible.
Rev. Downey started with the "Dearly beloved" speech, but I couldn't help noticing that he was grimacing in pain every so often. You see, about a week ago, he'd gotten out of the hospital after a hernia operation. I'm also happy to announce that when it wsas time for the rings, it wasn't like Ramona Forever, if you know what I mean.
The reception was held at the Thomas-Brewer mansion. We'd booked that over Labor Day weekend, and best of all, Bart wasn't late, and we didn't have to worry about losing our venue. I thought Kristy and Mary Anne looked great, despite the fact that both of them were pregnant. Kristy was entering her third trimester, and Mary Anne was halfway through her second. By the way, Kyle's probably going to kill me for saying this, but throughout the entire reception, all the teenage girls, including Karen and her friends, were crawling all over him, gushing over what a great voice he head. (And isn't it a coincidence that he'd played the lead in Stoneybrook Day's recent production of Jekyll & Hyde?)
We had egg-salad sandwiches, chicken cordon bleu, and Caesar salad with punch, iced tea, water, or lemonade to drink. The cake top was really neat, and looked just like the two of us dancing. Aunt Yvonne had made the cake, and found the cake top in the bakery department of the grocery store. Thankfully, the cake top stayed in one piece, because Mom never got a call saying we'd need a new one because the groom's head had fallen off. After the guests took pictures of us cutting the cake, I surprised Bart by smearing a big chunk of it all over his face. He looked like the Joker with a hangover!
After we cut the cake, we opened the presents. I think our favorite was the rotisserie that Jason and Kristy had given us. We also received savings bonds from Bart's parents that they'd purchased soon after he was born, and were not only told that those were to be used for emergencies only, but that they'd mature around Bart's thirtieth birthday. In addition, we got a set of wine goblets from my parents that had sets of red, gold, and blue lines running across them. When the light hit them, they turned every color of the rainbow.
After we finished opening the presents, we danced to "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker, which was our first dance as husband and wife. When we danced with our parents (I danced with Dad, and Bart danced with his mom), we danced to "Angel Eyes" by Jeff Healey. Also, when Bart and I were dancing, I think I saw Liam lip-sync and pretend to play the piano, just like Joe always did. I'm still amazed at how I was able to keep my composure, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone suggested sending that to America's Funniest Home Videos. (Aunt Yvonne also told me she hated that show and said, "What the hell's so funny about a bunch of people falling on their asses?")
Next came the bouquet and garter toss. The bouquet landed at Tiffany's feet, and Karen was just inches away from it. I thought for sure they were going to turn this into a performance of Dynasty, complete with the very elegant, but extremely pissed-off, grunts and screams. To this day, not only am I thankful that didn't happen, but also, nobody suggested building a mud pit.
When Bart tossed the garter, it landed at Peter's feet, and he picked it up before anyone else could get to it. I can only imagine his folks' reaction when they saw that.
As Bart and I drove away from the reception about an hour later, I thought to myself, Today was the best day of my life.
