Becoming Left-Handed

God's Gardener

My grandfather told me last weekend that when he gets to Heaven, he is going to tell God he wants to be in charge of the flower gardens.

As of this morning, God has a new gardener.

If you knew my grandfather, you would not be surprised at his desire to garden in Heaven - he has always had the greenest thumb of anyone I ever knew. Also, you would not be surprised to hear him say he would "tell God" what he wanted to do in Heaven. Grandpa has had a personal conversation with God going on for over 50 years. His faith was unshakeable. These things go together in my mind, because I'd say nine-tenths of gardening is faith.

This very moment, there are tomato plants sitting in Grandpa's basement. These are remarkable plants because Grandpa grew them from the seeds of a cherry tomato in his salad at a restaurant a while back. He laid the seeds aside, took them home wrapped in a dinner napkin, and now his plants are 8" high.

Those are not just plants he left behind. They are symbols of his legacy - his legacy of faith, trust in the seasons, tender loving care, and the unfailing belief that God knows best.

In 1999, Grandpa and I traveled to England, Scotland, and Wales together on a trip to celebrate is 85th birthday and my college graduation. Many memories stand out from that trip, but the one I keep remembering today is the way Grandpa handled the very difficult realization that the relatives we went there to find in Barnesley were not there. I was worried how he'd take it, after an hour of combing through the phone book and speaking to many people named Wales, Whals, and Wahls. I watched Grandpa like a hawk that day, afraid of what the disappointment would do to his faith. He had been so sure God would guide us to find our ancestors and relatives. And it simply didn't happen.

But Grandpa handled it with peace. He enjoyed talking to the few people we did meet. He led us to attend church the next day and we met a wonderful solicitor who agreed to take on our quest. A few months later, a distant cousin of Grandpa's traveled from England to attend a family reunion in Ohio.

Grandpa and I never talked about that day - but I think I know what he would have said. He would have said that God answers prayers in his own time. He would have said that you can't hurry the Heavens, no matter how urgent your requests on Earth. He would have said he knew all along God would lead him to find his family. He would have said that our trip was a success no matter what. And he would have said that God, as always, knew best.

God is lucky to have such a faithful, patient gardener. We were lucky to know him while he was here with us on Earth.

Ervin L. Wales September 22, 1914 - April 28, 2007

Please Pray

My grandfather had a stroke last night. 

I am not sure what's happening, my mom is at the hospital now, and I am at work, pretending to care about clients and web sites.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Update

Thank you to everyone who has called, prayed, emailed, and offered support to our family.

Grandpa is out of ICU, sitting up, eating pudding, and joking around.  His heart is truly a miracle - that was his 5th heart attack in 50 years. 

We hope to get him out of the hospital this weekend, and we've found a wonderful place for him to go while he recuperates and strengthens his leg. 

We'll keep you updated as we can.

Say A Little Prayer

Please pray, or say a rosary, or send a blessing, or positive energy, or whatever you can.

My grandfather broke his leg last week, and had surgery Saturday. Yesterday morning he had a post-operative heart attack and is in ICU.

He is 92.

For now his condition is stable but he is often staring off into space, and then saying suddenly, "I can still see you that time ..." and he goes on to talk about a memory from 1924 to 2004.

Our family all got to talk with him yesterday, and he thanked me for marrying Steve and told me he loves us both. He shook Steve's hand, despite the 47 tubes and wires protruding from or taped to his right arm. I am so glad, and grateful, they got to meet one another!

Fitting Fashion Found

We ordered bridesmaids' dresses yesterday!  We had a great experience at Alan Ray Bridal in Columbus - big shock since they weren't our favorite this time 2 years ago when Rachel was wedding planning!  (Please, please click the link to see the hilarious picture of Alan on the home page!)

Anyway, Kristy helped us get a beautiful Jim Hjelm dress chosen for the girls.  We opted for a more taupe-colored satin than this picture, but I think the mocha lace will look great with this chocolate borwn tux.  Not to mention how great this tux will look on my brown-eyed groom!

    

We are looking at the tux tomorrow and so I called the shop today to see about some swatches for matching.  They told me they don't have swatches, so I made a special trip to the dress shop during lunch hour to pick up the sample dress, which I will now make a special trip to Home Depot or Lowes to match to a paint chip to act as a faux fabric swatch.  Then I will make another trip to the dress shop to return the sample. 

Sigh.

I'm having fun, but there really is no end to the work that goes into a modern day wedding, especially for we working brides - I slept 4 hours last night (or should I say, I tossed and turned and had alternating nightmares about work and the wedding for 4 hours?) - between making presentation changes and leaving for a really early client meeting.

Double sigh.

Did I mention I'm having fun?  It really will be a gorgeous wedding party!!

And special thanks to my girlfriends at work, to my very patient bridesmaids, and to Frank DiMeo, our fabulous photographer, for looking at dress pictures with me and helping me choose.  What would I do without all of you?

Wine Not?

There are so many wineries in the Finger Lakes - almost 100 in all.  Steve and I have dreamed from day one about a wine tour the day before our wedding ceremony so we can literally play host and hostess to this fabulous region. 

Well, the wine tour planning has shifted into high gear this week.  The possibilities are endless, and I started off the week a very overwhelmed and sleepless bride.  But then my event planning background kicked in and I realized we can absolutely handle this.  We're brainstorming ways we can make the wine tour fun, engaging, and worth photographing (our photographer is coming along!) while keeping it simple and not stressful.  The first step is to bring champagne!

We debated which wine trail to travel that day and I think we've concluded we're going to stick to the Keuka Lake Wine Trail.  Not only is Keuka the lake where Heron Hill, our "wedding winery," is located, but it aslo boasts the oldest winery in the Finger Lakes (in the U.S.) at Pleasant Valley Wine Co. 

One of the most famous wineries in the region, Dr. Konstantin Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars, also overlooks Keuka Lake.  And nestled between these two is Bully Hill, a whimsical winery and museum that offers tours, a gift shop, a restaurant, and a really cool fireplace.

If we can show our guests these 3 wineries, while letting them get to know each other on a fun party-bus ride, then we will have suceeded. 

What's so stressful about that?

Finding Fitting Fashion

I just said a couple weeks ago that the wedding was on the back burner and things were too slow to blog about.  Well, the wedding is back to bubbling on the front burner and I have 3-4 blog posts swirling around in my head.

I went for a dress fitting this weekend - more of a consultation so the seamstress could see what would be involved with my gown.  The good news is I weigh 5 pounds less than I did in high school.  The bad news is the dress is so big on me, it has to be taken apart and re-created to fit.  Or I have to order a smaller size and pray the dress shop will work with me to exchange it. 

We started researching tuxedo colors and we have found a beautiful chocolate brown tux for Steve and the guys.  At least, we think it's beautiful.  We have only seen it online so far, and we can't see it in person until next weekend.  But the possibility of the chocolate brown tux throws the plan of chocolate brown dresses for the bridesmaids into complete chaos where tiny little fabric swatches are my only tools for coordinating outfits for 6 living, breathing human beings standing in natural light.

Ordering the flower girl dresses so early was a blessing, until we realized those dresses have us somewhat stuck regarding the maids' dresses.  So, I'm basically back to the online drawing board, looking at dresses and trying to discern colors on a computer screen and wondering if I should just have everyone wear jeans!    

Wedding Gifts

Steve and I spent part of our weekend registering.  We also spent time playing with the digital camera my dad gave us for a wedding gift, and we ordered the computer my mom and stepfather gave us as their wedding present.  We are excited and grateful and overwhelmed by people's generosity - and our wedding is still 6 months away!

Yesterday, we were the lucky recipients of another gift - the time and talent and inspiration of our friend Barce, who has been sketching wedding invitation designs for us.  I was blown away by the effort he invested on these early sketches, and by the effortless way he brought our ideas and our wedding to life in pencil.  We spent last night talking about his sketches and ideas, and we are torn because we love all 3 options he gave us.  I would be proud to send any of them, and I want to send all of them, and I only hope I can overcome my indecision in time to get the printing done!   

Anne

Last week and this week we are focused on music.  I have organized a playlist on iTunes with our prelude music in sequence, and listened to it dozens of times.  We have had a few conversations about whether or not to include lyrics during the prelude songs.  We chose some contemporary songs to play during that time, and I'm not sure if they are recognizable without lyrics, although they certainly are beautiful.

When it comes to my "walking down the aisle" song, I have opted for the theme song from the Anne of Green Gables movie.  I can't believe I'm going to admit this in writing, but I've read my Anne of Green Gables books (all 8) something like 19 times.  I love that girl.  And I can think of nothing more fitting than walking down the aisle to her theme song. 

This will shock you, but the Anne of Green Gables theme song is hard to find.  I found a harpsichord version on iTunes that was okay, so I downloaded it.  I paid $30 for the entire CD to be shipped to me from Canada from the official boutique of the movie's producers.  AFTER I ordered the CD, I searched iTunes again and found a better version, which I also downloaded.  Turns out the CD doesn't even have a version as good as my second $0.99 iTunes download.

What that CD does have, though, is an incredible amount of emotion and nostalgia for me, so I've been driving around town listening to it on repeat in my car, loving every Anne minute of it.  I wonder if I should play the whole CD as our prelude? 

Of course, I won't hear the prelude on our wedding day, I'll be hiding in the bride's dressing room trembling and pacing, so we should pick whatever our guests will enjoy most while they wait.  Would they even realize it was Anne's music?