My grandmother and I once went to five different engagement ceremonies in one day. None of them we were invited to.
The ceremony house was located near a small amusement park, we would go in, smile at these strangers, accept the prizes we came for, stay for the vows, and leave to come back again in an hour.
The prizes were my grandmother's favorite souvenirs to collect: the intricate engagement candy assortments wrapped in expensive packaging with pink bows, candles and felt roses, one for me and one for her. It's a tradition where we come from. The candies. Almonds covered with a milky sort of hard chocolate. They last forever. And the assortments? People get creative with them, and those are my grandmother's favorite kind. Give her the little figurines and the porcelain boxes.
"Are you from the bride's side or the groom's?" They asked. We changed our answer each time, or said that we knew both the bride and the groom, that we actually played matchmaker. We sometimes even posed for pictures, imagining what people would think later.
We would weave stories of the newlywed couples looking through their albums together coming across the elaborately dressed grandmother and her granddaughter. "Do you know them?" the bride would ask the groom, and he would shake his head. They would shrug and flip to the next page, see if they had other strangers in their album. "Maybe they are extended family?" "Yeah, could be," "I'll ask my mom" "OK."
We would walk to the amusement park and buy cotton candy from the vendors. And then we would relax in the shade under big trees and a small Ferris wheel. We would keep telling stories. Make them up. About the girl and her mother waiting in line for the basil, tomato and mozzarella sandwiches. About the old man sitting by himself drinking tea and eating popcorn. About the stone faced riders on the roller coaster.
We would return to the ceremony house after enough time had passed. To extend warm glances and exchange pleasantries, maybe pose in a few more photographs. We would watch two people commit to each other, while a new set of candies rested in my grandmother's purse. Waiting to be put in her glass display cabinet.
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Sorry for the infrequent updates everyone, I am writing college application essays and trying to juggle senior year at the same time. I tagged this as creative writing, but this is something my grandmother and I did once and I recently remembered it. It was an amazing day.
We are nearing the end of 2014 and it only feels like yesterday we started it. I hope you all accomplished most of your new year goals by now (:
Lots of pumpkins,
Belle