The good-time parties continued last weekend. On Saturday, we had three graduation parties, which seemed tame after last week’s five-in-one-day. We had two parties in the afternoon, and one in the evening, and in between we went to the Riverfront Irish Festival in Cuyahoga Falls. Our first party had the wonderful surprise of our being given a gift instead of our giving one away. The girl whose party it was is close to both me and Meredith, and she went on our London trip back in January. As a thank-you, her family had a picture book put together from an online book maker, and they gave us a copy. It came out really well.
After the second party, we headed to the Irish Festival, which is held annually and is free. We stopped and watched some excellent dancers, and then planted ourselves in a tent to hear some music. We started to leave to go hear some other music when we ran into a group of our former students, and so we stopped to talk with them. True to form, shortly thereafter the skies opened up and we fled back to a music tent. It seems as if it rains every time we are at the Irish Festival. The rain stopped after about fifteen minutes, and we made our slow way back to our car to head off to the last party of the evening.
The last party had a number of people we knew at it, and it had copious amounts of good food, so we had a great time. We spent about an hour in a real wood-paneled library talking to one of the owners of the house. She was a good friend of the family who was having the party, so she offered to let the party be at her house. She was fascinating to talk to – she loved theater and knew a bunch of people we know, so we had a good chat (while eating dessert). We closed the party out, leaving about 10:00.
On Sunday, we actually had a party conflict. Most of the time, graduation parties are drop-by sorts of affairs, but on Sunday we had a party that was also a senior recital for a very talented student who was going to showcase her harp skills. Because there was a performance element, the party actually started at a specific time. At the same time, we had been invited to an ex-colleague and good friend’s wedding. We compromised. Mer went to the student recital and I went to the wedding.
Rita used to teach at CVCA, but had become very ill and moved to Florida for her health about seven years ago. She got stronger and moved back to Ohio a couple of years ago, and she recently got engaged to a man who goes to her church. The small wedding was on Sunday, and I was delighted to attend.
Rita went bold, and she had an outside wedding. It was cool and overcast, but it did not rain. The wedding was on the yard of a country club, and it was very pretty. Rita looked beautiful in a simple dress and a mini-veil. The ceremony was relaxed but still formal, and the pastor exhorted the couple to try to live a biblical marriage that was based on love and respect. I was in the last row of the seats, so I had some trouble hearing everything, but I was still pleased to be at the celebration. After the wedding, there was a dessert reception, and I got to talk briefly with Rita. It was very good to see her again.
I understand from Meredith that the recital was very impressive. It’s a pity that we had to have a schedule conflict like that.