One day she threatened to fill my face in at lunch time and as wasn't really keen on the idea, I decided to talk her out of it. It took the whole of the chemistry double period, but I managed and the fight never happened, in fact we stayed on relatively good terms after that. Not that I still send her a Christmas card or anything ( I don't really send anyone Christmas cards anymore...but that's another blog entirely!), but that little encounter pretty much summed up the rest of my life.
I'm emotionally quite even. I don't like arguments and I always feel that with a bit of reasoning, anything can be worked out..."but surely if you just sat down and talked about it?" should be written on my gravestone ( not that I want a gravestone, I want to be cremated and scattered off the Moray coast somewhere,on a non-windy day, hopefully not being blown back in to someone's face!).
The one thing I have gradually lost control of over the years is when I cry. I remember realising that I must be pregnant with James, 19 years ago, as I sat crying over a Lassie film on TV, so rarely was it that I ever blubbed.
These days, my children could tell you horrendous stories of me embarrassing them by sobbing uncontrollably over a seemingly minor event.
When Ellie was leaving home, to go to university in Dundee, I thought I was holding it together quite well as we packed her stuff up. My friend Kathleen passed by as I was packing the car, having just taken her daughter Gemma to Edinburgh, she stopped to chat and we ended up sobbing on each other's shoulders.
I pretty much cried for the next 24 hours, trying to hold it together for the journey down to Dundee.
This all went really well until we hit Turriff and 'Somewhere out there', from the film, 'An American Tail' (The Linda Ronstadt/ James Ingram version), came on the radio.....
"....And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star.
And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to know we're sleeping underneath the same big sky....."
....Well, that was me off. I sobbed my way down the road, barely breaking to replenish the lost fluid and ignoring the horrified stares of Ellie and Jake.
Strangely, once we said our goodbyes I did much better, much to the relief of Jake who I'm sure felt that he would have to get out and thumb a lift if I went on much longer.
It's a great thing to have a good old cry, just such a shame that it makes you look so scary. Maybe if we all cried a lot more it would become much more normal to have that,'I just cried look' and nobody would bat an eyelid. I say, let's go for it folks, come on, grab that person beside you and have a good old sob on their shoulder...
The day before Ellie and Conor's wedding I was running round like a headless chicken organising 'stuff' and I decided to text Ellie, referring to her as 'Miss Wiseman'. The realisation that this was the last day she would be a Wiseman, hit, and that was me off.
Conor's parents, Lorna and Simon, who I had spoken to but never met in person, turned up with his brothers and sisters ( he's one of 5 too!). I welcomed them in to the house and Lorna asked how things were going. Yes, you've guessed it, I burst in to tears....well, at least they saw the real me early on!
Wedding days can bring that out in you, I can tell you and I am so aware of this at each wedding I attend. Underneath the happiness and splendour of this amazing day, is a hotchpotch of emotions just waiting to get out.
My dress for Clark and Gail's wedding was my, Mother-of-the-bride dress, that has only been worn once since Ellie and Conor's wedding in 2013. I got a bit emotional when I slipped back into it, as it brought back all those happy memories.
I was working till 12 and we had to leave at 12.45, so there wasn't much room for error in the getting ready process. Thankfully the dress behaved itself, though my tights didn't and I had to go raking for a spare pair after getting a ladder in pair one. I probably spend more on tights than I do on dresses, honestly!
Well here's the finished piece!
The invitation from Clark and Gail had arrived a while back with a strip of hessian sacking round it so I wasn't too surprised, when we walked in to the function suite at the Springs, to see hessian ties on the back of the chairs. The room looked lovely, the ties matching the decor of the hall exactly.
I wasn't sure if we would know any of the guests as Clark and Gail are from Turriff so I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a few friendly faces, as the guests came in to take a seat.
The flower girls came in first,Gail and Clark's nieces holding the hand of Paige, their three year old daughter. They walked beautifully to the front dressed in cream with the eldest flower girl matching the bridesmaids in a pinky/purple.
In came the bridesmaids looking beautiful as they walked down the specially laid white carpet in the central aisle.
Gail came in with her Dad, Jim, to the traditional bridal march, looking wonderful in her white silk strapless gown, delicately embroidered with crystal beading that flowed in gentle twists down to the hem and train. She stopped momentarily at the end of the carpet, realising that walking, holding your Dad's arm and a bouquet of pink gerbias was no easy task. So she asked Jim if he would hold up the front of her dress as they walked together down past their family and friends....perfect problem solving!
The ceremony began with the lighting of a candle, something a lot of couples do, in remembrance of those who couldn't be there whether through having passed away or being unable to attend. Robin spoke of how we are all 'surrounded by a cloud of witnesses' and can be reassured of the love and support of all our loved ones as their presence is felt on such a special day.
Clark's Aunt Susan had written a special poem, which Robin read, telling of the lives of Gail and Clark and how they came to this special day.
They said their vows, Clark promising ( vaguely) to not just step over folded piles of beautifully laundered clothes and actually put them away. Gail on the other hand promised ( ish) to stop nagging Clark about jobs that are needing done about the house.
We all enjoyed a sip of cava from the quiaches despite Bob, one of the groomsmen, almost wiping out the whole front row of guests while opening a bottle and letting the cork go rogue.
Soon, the new Mr and Mrs Hendry walked down the aisle to the traditional wedding finale piece and headed out in to the sunshine.
I hung back to help Robin clear up and saw that the lighter used to light the candle was in the style of a bunsen burner...so I had to take a picture, just in case no one else knows what one looks like!
As the guests filtered out I spotted a few more familiar faces and made a few connections. Gail's Mum, Ann is from a family of five sisters, who used to be 'Meechans' before aquiring different surnames through marriage. I have known Sandra for years and her sister Brenda also Linda and Mairi but this was my first time to meet Ann. It was lovely to see them all together and we sat with them out in the foyer enjoying a drink and the lovely snacks that the staff brought round.
I realised that I had known Gail's Granda, Dad to the famous five, such a lovely man who would've loved to have enjoyed the day with the family and especially seeing all his girls together. We decided to take a photo of them all in their finery as the last group picture had been ten years before, so this was well overdue!
I had driven over as Robin had woken up with a sore throat and feeling a bit off, so thought we might nip back home for a few hours mid afternoon if needs be. As we were enjoying the company so much, Brenda offered to follow us home and take us back again so we could enjoy a drink with our meal.
Soon it was time for the lineup and we hugged and kissed our way through to the hall, turned around beautifully by the hardworking staff while we had been sitting enjoying our afternoon.
We were at the top table named 'Heid bummers' and all the other tables had similarly Doric themed names. The Meechan girls ( apart from Ann of course) were at the 'Glaikit' table, much to their amusement ( generally means a bit thick and stupid!) and thankfully had already given their wedding presents to Clark and Gail or might've thought twice about what they gave them.
The cake was sitting on a slice of log and all the name tags on matching pieces of wood. We thought we could gather them up at the end and use them for our wood burner, but apparently it all belonged to a wedding company and would have to be rescued for another day.
Jim, a Turriff postman, started the speeches off thanking Robin, a fellow postie and speaking in very amusing terms about Gail and Clark and of course little Paige, who's wedding day it was too. He told us that Gail's favourite three words as a child weren't 'I love you' but 'Can I get?'
Clark thanked everyone and for a man of few words, did really well. He handed over to his best man, Kevin, who spoke of his long lasting friendship with Clark, feeling that as he was so 'deep', he still felt like he didn't know everything about him. What he did know was that he has never been happier since having Gail and now Paige in his life ( told you I would cry!) .
Our meal was delicious and I listened as Robin and Jim talked Postie talk. As Robin says 'Once a postie always a postie'.
After 'A recht denner' ( a good meal) , we did our usual and sat out in the Foyer and put our feet up, so to speak.
Clark and Gail came over for a chat and we watched as Paige ran about enjoying the space and so much company.
Laura, Robin's cousin, came in for the evening dance with Skylar and Riley her two little monkeys and we had a bit of a catchup. I'm looking forward to doing a Superblog on Laura and David's wedding in July 2017, so put it in your diary!
Robin failed miserabley in getting us a taxi home and had to call on Pauline the manageress at the Springs to pull her weight ( not that she has much ) and magic us a lift. Thankfully it worked and we headed off after our farewells, leaving everyone to enjoy their evening together with the band, 'Stone cold sober'.
We spotted dolphins jumping in the harbour on the way home, what a perfect ending to a perfect day.
Well there were a few tears, but mostly lots of laughter and love. Wishing the new Mr and Mrs Hendry all of the above for their life together and hope they'll be 'Fair tricket we themsels' ( Happy) for the many years ahead. x
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