Ahh. Summer. A time for fun in the sun, hanging with friends, and, inevitably, summer weddings. This past weekend the Evil Twins reunited at a wedding in Connecticut, dancing and drinking our Saturday night away. Some college friends were there, along with many BUSL folk.
It's always great to go to weddings where you know both the bride and groom. The bride was one of my best friends during blah school and she helped keep me sane during that extremely painful 3 year period. The Bride introduced the Groom to ET#1 and me and he even moved into an apartment just a few blocks away from our place on St. Paul Street. The ceremony was lovely, with another BUSL alumna belting out the Ave Maria while the (very large - 7 bridesmaids and 8 groomsmen) bridal party walked down the aisle. Really, JG should quit his day job and consider joining the wedding circuit. The only thing which needed some improvement was the weather -- it was 97 °F and really humid out. This was not ideal since we were taking pictures for about 3 hours outdoors. I got some disapproving looks from the Matrons of Honor when I decided to kick off my shoes (my heels were doing a nice job of aerating the lawn) and hike up my dress (it was 3 layers of floor length burgundy polyester chiffon and I was roasting). Oh well.
The Matrons of Honor (a fitting title if there ever was one) (MOHs) said some stuff about the bride that got me thinking about how much people change and how your friends from your various stages in life know a different person than those from other stages of your life. The MOHs were a nice enough pair, although a bit too touchy feely for my tastes. I mean really, do 30 year old women need to constantly be walking hand in hand and calling each other sweetie and honey? Weird. The MOHs grew up with the Bride in central Connecticut, outside Hartford. The town of Farmington doesn't quite have the ideal Stars Hollow feel (but then again, that is a fictional town), but it did seem extremely white. So white, that even the Puerto Rican MOH looked like she stepped out of a Talbots catalog. Anyway, another Law School Friend was in the bridal party and she and I tried to make small talk with the MOHs. We asked them what the Bride was like in high school and they said that she was "much more quiet and not so bossy and definitely not as independent." They sounded somewhat negative.
The person that they were describing (Bride during high school) is a totally different person from the Bride that I met during law school. First of all, Bride is still pretty quiet and bossy is the last thing I would ever describe her as. If anything, she is too nice and needs to be less accomodating. The MOHs were not people that I could ever see myself being friends with, yet they are the Bride's closest friends. It got me thinking, would I be-friend (and be friends) with people from my past if I were to meet them for the first time today? Do we stay friends with people more because of history and shared experience than because we actually like them as people? If so, then that's a bit depressing.
I'm one of those people that likes to have their worlds collide. I constantly bring my high school, college and law school friends and friends from work (the few that are left) together. But, lately, I have been leaning away from that. In general, I think my friends are "all purpose" and I can just as easily go to a museum as to a bar with them. They usually get along with each other, at least that's what they tell me. So, why the sudden urge to separate my worlds? Maybe it's my new preference for hanging out in small groups rather than one large one--that way I actually get to talk to my friends instead of playing hostess. I suppose that means that I'm changing too. It's just interesting to see how we all change--whether that means ET#1's mid-year resolution to kiss a boy or my resolution to work less and play more. I don't know why I'm contemplating these things. Maybe all this heat and humidity is going to my head and I just need to eat some ice cream.
It's nice to know that some things don't change. After the MOHs forced ET#1 and me out onto the dance floor for the bouquet toss, we watched it fall to the floor right in front of us.
4 comments:
weird MOH's who were married, stood with the single gals and caught the boquet on the second toss. odd? yes. typical of their high maintenance behaviour that night? yes.
crap, i just wrote this long comment and i deleted it. anyway, had mucho fun!
i like the idea of inviting friends out. As I am never invited out by you. It's hurtful and needs to stop...
"Do we stay friends with people more because of history and shared experience than because we actually like them as people? If so, then that's a bit depressing."
This is a classic SitC rhetorical comment made by Carrie, unfortunately right on.
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