. . . This word is not enough but it will
have to do. It’s a single
vowel in this metallic
silence, a mouth that says
O again and again in wonder
and pain, a breath, a finger
grip on a cliffside. You can
hold on or let go.

~ Excerpt from “Variations On The Word Love” by Margaret Atwood

We are too excited; wide awake at 3:00 a.m. Adrenalin. Mother and father of the bride. Exhausted, busy, happy. I force myself to meditate in bed, force myself back to sleep for rest I need. It works. Frank is gone to his meeting when I wake and Charlie is ready for our walk. Charlie, I say, it’s once around the property today, I’m afraid. That’s all I’ve time for on this busy day of errands. My youngest needs a dress since she gave me hers and we know which one and which store and what size, and I will go. But first, past my little gardens, down the driveway - I pull two weeds and move past them to see how the river looks today: cloudy. And then, to see the arch. It’s standing, no surprise, and Frank and I moved some of our benches in. And then, to the brook. And the dogs know something big is happening and they accept this. Soon enough, they shall see. I buy two red rosebushes for the base of the arch I will plant in the morning, or after the rain stops, if it rains, so the petals won’t be knocked off. I get the dress. I pick out all my cut flowers for inside, one of my favorite things to do, tomorrow, to arrange the sunflowers and glads and other yellow and orange bright beauties. The bride calls and says she needs a veil. I have looked for mine and haven’t found it. Her groom says he wants the old fashioned kind, one he can lift! Well, that’s what I wore. I wish I could find it. So, once more I go looking. Where could it be? I feel as if it’s in my bedroom tucked away somewhere, a closet, a drawer? I’ve already checked. But there, in a little nightstand drawer beside my bed, I find it! So, she will wear my veil, not my dress, after all. So many lessons in this process of spontaneity. This has been quite a journey toward a wedding. And the weather report says the rain will clear in time for the ceremony. It will or it won’t, and all will be well.