The Wedding

2241 Words5 Pages

During the ensuing years, Lena would spend many evenings in that uncomfortable wooden chair, pretending to sip the pungent, fragrant “martoonies” Jo-Ann always served, contemplating Maude’s indignant back, and listening to what she would later call “Jo-Ann Stories”: madcap adventures which many times seemed as if they should have been played out in some crazy sitcom on television. Lena would remember stories such as the “Uninhibited Island” in which Jo-Ann would explain that she and a friend had flown to his privately owned island and decided to skinny dip. Once in the water, they heard whistling and catcalling. Turning, and looking up, they found a construction crew cheering them on. “I would have sworn the island was uninhibited!” She exclaimed. “Uninhibited?” Lena questioned – and then they had laughed, holding their sides and rocking when she and Jo-Ann finally realized that she meant “uninhabited.” Then there was the story of when Jo-Ann was twenty-one and made her first trip to New York. She had been so proud of herself: flying on an airplane! Placing her foot on the first step of the rollaway stairs, which had been pushed up to the plane’s exit door, she noticed her date waiting there to meet her. Giving a toss of her chic, veiled hatted head, she lost her footing, promptly rolling down the entire length of stairs and landing at the feet of her escort. What would have devastated others did not faze her in the least! Eccentric, outrageous, generous and full of humor, she attacked life rather than live it and survived in a world too harsh for her fragile psyche, with the aid of wit, cigarettes, large doses of alcohol and her pets. She was owned by five cats: Maude was a longhaired grey tiger of imperious a... ... middle of paper ... ...shed dressing in Vicki’s office and proceeded to the arbor to await his bride. He was dressed in a fringed, white buckskin jacket. A torquois balero tie, worn in honor of his bride, encirlced the color of a crisp, white, cotton shirt. Black jeans and black cowboy boots finished off his wedding atire. The sweet soaring notes of a flute drifted to Michael’s ears. Brent Blount, a musician of high regard who played tenor sax, clarinet, blues and jazz guitar and the Native American flute, was playing “Wankan Tanka,” a song about new beginnings. There was a hush, and slowly the flute began again. This time, it was “Sunrise Song.” A lilting vibrato filled the rooms. It was time. Lena gave a start and smiled. Brent was playing the song she chose for her entrance. Taking a deep breath, Lena opened the door to her office, and began her journey as a wife.

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