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Date Posted: Sun, February 19 2023, 8:10:38
Author: Betsy Barefootspinner
Subject: QOTD for Sunday, 2/19/23

Good morning, afternoon, evening, and night, Lallylanders,

It's been a bit since I have done QOTD, so bear with me, please.

Reading Cindy's quotes from last week, some of my all-time-favorite quotes in the whole series, set my mind to thinking. Yes, the setting was rather different than most brides wish for, and the priest was less sober than one would hope. The entire wedding is laugh-out-loud funny to me, even though I've read it a couple dozen times or more (probably more,) all of a sudden, the scene zones in on the importance of the whole hysterical setup. I think it was Kathy ??? maybe who noted that the end of the chapter changed the mood quickly to spotlight what a wedding is really all about. The absolute committment of two people who won't imagine their lives apart; so much so, that they climb hills, defy everyone who thinks otherwise, sail and walk through shipwreck, end up standing in front of a drunk priest, motley crew in attendance, and promise in front of witnesses and to God that they will stand side by side through life, always having each other's back, and vow to remain a team, the two of them together in the promise, until the end of their time. It makes Claire and Jamie ponder about their own unconventional vows and the unbreakable promises they have carried forth, and I suspect I'm not the only one who is transported back to our own weddings or commitments to our partners. It certainly gives me pause to reflect.

When David and I first became an exclusive couple, he had said to me that we were bound for all time, but he would never get legally married. We already were, as far as he saw it. David has never been one to stand on tradition. Still isn't. I couldn't have cared less if we were legally bound. "There were the two of us," and that worked just fine.

I still didn't care after we had baby one. And baby two. Then reality set in. Tax breaks, medical representations, all that stuff that constitutes rational adulthood. I began to feel differently. Every time I brought it up (I didn't get too far into the thought process,) David said "You changed your mind. I haven't. I'm already committed." That was true. I tried about every six months, and the conversation ended the same way each time.

Skip through lots and lots of life-stuff, and two more kids. Life had become much more complicated. One day, my wonderful (read that any way you want,) David said "Well, I think we should get married. We should figure out when." That was a Tuesday night. I replied Friday night. So we did. With a bunch of helium balloons for a bouquet, carried by child one and child two, David's sister and brother-in-law as witnesses, and my parents in attendance, I walked out of the bathroom (child three had to poop,) instead of down the isle, met my beloved somewhere in the vicinity of an altar of sorts, and surrounded by that menagerie of characters, we looked at each other, and it was just the two of us. For about a minute, but that was long enough. My father had been put in charge of child four, an eight month old boy, and forgot he couldn't walk yet, put him down in the middle of the pews, and he face-planted into a hard wood pew.

We were married amid three squealing children, who had let go of their balloons so the ceiling of the church was festooned with colorful balloon ribbons, a bleeding child who was accessorizing my light blue blouse with copious ammounts of blood, and witnesses who I think didn't even crack a smile. My parents were happy. My in-laws still, after ten years, still didn't know at all how to respond to me and were silently hoping I'd drop dead of a heart attack right there so the entire Robbins' crew could stop trying to figure out where I was coming from.....Mars or Jupiter, or perhaps a galaxy far, far away.

David did have two hands, and all the appropriate working parts, and despite looking like a survivor of the Battle of Bull run, and I think I still smelled like two year old child poop, we were married in what could never-be-improved-apon wedding of two rather "out there" lovers.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following quote is taken from 'The "Fiery Cross,' chapter 40, "Duncan's Secret," by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2001, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.


Jamie had just said something humorous, for Campbell made the low, creaking noise that passed with him for humor, nodding to me in greeting.

"I shall leave ye to the practice of your own affairs, then," he said to Jamie, recovering his composure. "Call me, though, at need." He shaded his eyes, looking up toward the terrace.

""Ah, the prodigal returns. In shillings, sir, or bottles of brandy?"

I turned to look as well, in time to see Duncan crossing the terrace, nodding and smiling as he passed. I must have looked bewildered, for Mr. Campbell nodded to me, dry mouth crooked with amusement.

"I've laid your husband a small wager, ma'am "

"Five to one on Duncan, the night," Jamie explained. "That he and my aunt will share a bed, I mean"

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Replies:

[> Poor Duncan - getting kicked in the bits by a horse and breaking off an engagement, losing an arm and his country in the '45, years of imprisonment, life as a beggar, a smuggler, embarrassing constipation at sea, then having to confess to impotence on the day of his wedding. The man deserves comfort in his elder years even if as a convenience to Jocasta. -- kgp, Sun, February 19 2023, 8:42:01


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[> [> I was glad to read he got that comfort from Phaedra for awhile. Betsy, it sounds like you had a mother in law who taught you how to be a good one! Lol. Wink, wink. Me too. -- Kathy in PA, Mon, February 20 2023, 3:45:05


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