Part 8
As the wedding night went on, the families and friends gathered, including the new groom and bride showed no inclination to cut their celebration short. They were too happy, and too relieved to want to break up the party or the feeling. Hours later, when most newlyweds would have been packed and gone on their honeymoon, their friends and families were happily noting that Lucas and Sami seemed to have withdrawn into their own small world, laughing and kissing and embracing and dancing together.
And the music went happily on as well, especially when Billie and Liz began coaxing the more musically inclined guests to join them on stage. Doug Williams, despite his now silver hair still possessed a silver voice and shared it to everyone's delight. Melissa Anderson, arrived late and wowed the special audience with excerpts and memories from her latest tour. And at one point the groom himself was cajoled into working out the last of his nervous energy on a brand new set of drums. But mostly one love song after another warmed their hearts that night, As diverse and as loving as the audience itself, was the music that filled the room. And taking back the stage, Liz Chandler Curtis stopped the show with her favorite medley, joined in turn by Kayla Johnson, Scott Banning, Doug Williams and Billie Reed. The fair-haired songstress began with:
"Right as the rain that falls from above,
So real, so right is our love
It came like the spring
That falls from the clouds,
I can't say yet what it will bring,
I only know, I only know,
Its right to believe,
Whatever gave your eyes that smile,
Whatever gave my heart this song,
Can't be wrong!
Its right as the rain, that falls from above,
And fills the world with the glow
Of our love."
"People,
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world
We're children,
Needing other children
And yet, letting our grown up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children,
Than children
Lovers
Are very special people
They're the luckiest people
In the world
With one person,
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you were half, now you're whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first
Be a person who needs people
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world!"
"When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song, of a lark
Walk on through the night
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone."
Then she invited Kayla to sing with her, a song that has as many meanings as it has had listeners, ever since Amanda McBroom penned it.
"Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless, aching need
I say love, it is a flower, and you its only seed.
It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance,
It's the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying
who never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong.
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies a seed
That with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose."
Next was Billie's turn again, and there was no one in the room that night who wondered to whom she was dedicating her song.
"The first time I loved forever
Was When you whispered my name
And I knew at once you loved me
For the me of who I am
The first time I loved forever
I cast all else aside
And I bid my heart to follow
Be there no more need to hide
And if wishes and dreams
are merely for children
And if love's a tale for fools
I'll live the dream with you.
For all my life and forever
There's a truth I'll always know
When my world divides and shatters
Your love is where I'll go."
A low murmur ran around the room, but was silenced by what happened as the intro to the next song began. Carrie stood up from her place next to Anna on Tony's right, and slowly, deliberately walked over to Mike. For just a single, long moment, she held him at arm's length and whirled him towards the stage. The Sami's older sister accepted the moveable mic from Billie, and turned to face everyone else.
"This song once meant a great deal to me. It still does. And tonight, I want to sit back and watch it be played for and danced to by two people I care about greatly and love even more, because they've made me their friend again, despite ... a lot of water under the bridge. Billie Holiday Reed and Michael William Horton, who I predict, will be following in my sister's footsteps before too very long. What do you think? Then Carrie surprised the crowd again, by softly singing:
"How do I, get through a night without you?
If I had to live without you, what kind of life would that be?
Oh I, I need you in my arms, need you to hold.
You're my world, my heart, my soul . . .
If you ever leave, baby, you would take
Away everything good in my life!
And tell me now, how do I live without you?
I want to know, how do I breathe without you?
If you ever go, how do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I,
Oh, how do I live?
Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky,
There would be no love in my life,
there'd be no world left for me.
And I, baby I don't know what I would do I'd be lost if I lost you
If you ever leave baby you would take away everything real in my life.
And tell me now, how do I live without you?
I want to know, how do I breathe without you?
If you ever go, how do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I,
Oh, how do I live?
Oh, how do I live? Please tell me baby,
How do I go on, If you ever leave,
Baby, don't you know that you're
Everything good in my life?
And tell me now, how do I live without you?
I want to know, how do I breathe without you?
If you ever go, how do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I,
oh, how do I live?"
And when Carrie was done, and disappeared into the embrace of her loving friends, another hand took the mic and sang a more old fashioned song.
"Once upon a time,
Someone with moonlight in her eyes,
Took me by the hand, and said she loved me so,
But that was once upon a time
Very long ago.
Once upon a hill,
We sat beneath a willow tree,
Counting all the stars,
And waiting for the dawn,
But that was once upon a time
Now the tree is gone
How the wind whispered in her hair
How we always laughed as if tomorrow
Wasn't there
We were young then and didn't have a care
Where did it go?
Once upon a time,
The world was sweeter than we knew,
Everything was ours, how happy we were then,
But somehow once upon a time, never comes again."
Scott Banning sang, proving his musical inheritance from proud mom Trish.
The next singer got an instant round of applause and an instant laugh as he began a Lerner and Lowe melody:
"How to handle a woman?
There's a way said the wise, old man
A way known to every woman
Since the whole rigmarole began.
Do I flatter her, I begged him answer,
Do I threaten or cajole, or plead
Do I brood or play the gay romancer
Said he smiling, no indeed.
How to handle a woman,
Mark me well, I will tell you so,
The way to handle a woman,
Is to love her
Simply love her
Merely love her, love her, love her."
Doug Williams finished his number with cheers from the men present and catcalls from the women. Laughing and bowing he handed the mic back to Liz, who explained that the next song was a special request, from the newly minted groom, for his newly married bride.
"Once upon a time
Once when you were mine
I remember skies
Reflected in your eyes
I wonder where you are
I wonder if you
Think about me
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams
Once the world was new
Our bodies felt the morning dew
That greets the brand new day
We couldn't tear ourselves away
I wonder if you care
I wonder if you still remember
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams
And when the music plays
And when the words are
Touched with sorrow
When the music plays
I hear the sound
I had to follow
Once upon a time
Once beneath the stars
The universe was ours
Love was all we knew
And all I knew was you
I wonder if you know
I wonder if you
Think about it
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams
And when the music plays
And when the words are
Touched with sorrow
When the music plays
And when the music plays
I hear the sound
I had to follow
Once upon a time
Once upon a time
Once when you were mine
I remember skies
Mirrored in your eyes
I wonder where you are
I wonder if you
Think about me
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams
In your wildest dreams
In your wildest dreams"
The bride seemed pleased by his effort, and signaled Billie and Scott wordlessly, to return the favor. with words and music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, this time.
"Do I love you because you're wonderful,
Or are you wonderful
Because I love you?
Have I only wishfully made of you
Someone too lovely to be really true
Are you the sweet imagining of a lovers dream?
Or are you really as wonderful
As you seem?"
But as just about everyone could have guessed, and most of them had wished, the last song came back where it belonged, to the pair of singers who first recorded it. Liz Chandler and Carl Anderson.
"What would you say if I told you
I've always wanted to hold you?
I don't know what we're afraid of
Nothing would change if we made love
'cause I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
Well, I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other
Yes, it's a chance that we're taking
And somebody's heart may be breaking
But we can't stop what's inside us
Our love for each other will guide us
I've been through you
And you've been through me
Sometimes a friend is the hardest to see
We always know when it's laid on the line
Nobody else is as easy to find
So I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
Well, I know in our heart we agree
We don't have to be one or the other."
Finally, the party began winding down. Some of the guests had traveled across country, and others from even farther corners of the world. Every available hotel, motel and living room couch in Salem was booked for the weekend and their day had been long, exhausting and exhilarating. Only one ritual was left to complete and that only when the bride came back from the dressing rooms in a very retro silvery grey-blue silk suit and hat, that she had almost chosen to be married in. Now the male wedding guests did their best to form a horseshoe shaped circle behind their female counterparts, Luckily, this remnant of tribal custom required only the single or voluntarily available women present. Otherwise the prize about to be competed for would have ended up as strewn petals and leaves.
Sami laughed at the line of eager faces, about half of whom she was related to by blood or now, by marriage. "There's only one of these." she teased them. "And pieces don't count! So, try to behave like the ladies we all know you are ... NOT." Turning her back to them and winding up the best pitching arm in her junior high softball league, Sami tossed her bouquet as high and wide as she could. And she hit her target, just as planned. With a shout of surprised triumph, the crowd of women parted, showing someone no one else expected, grasping the bouquet.
"The Man in the Street" from "I married an Angel" by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers
"Right as the Rain" by EY Harburg and Harold Arlen
"People" from Funny Girl by Jules Styne
"Never Walk Alone from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel
"The Rose" by Amanda McBroom
The First Time I loved forever
from CBS' Beauty and the Beast
lyrics by Melanie/Melody by Lee Holdridge
How to handle a Woman? from "Camelot" by Jay Lerner and Alan Lowe
How do I live? written by Diane Warren copyright 1997, recorded by LeAnn Rimes
Once upon a Time, recorded by Frank Sinatra, and others written by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams for their musical "All American"
Do I love you? from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
Your Wildest Dream The Moody Blues
(Justin Hayward)
Friends and Lovers
-Artists; Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson
-peak Billboard position # 2 in 1986
-Words and Music by Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska