WEDDINGS.... THE NEXT GENERATION

There was a time when I went through the wedding seasons with my friends and contemporaries . I was the first (more fool me!) and after that everyone around me seemed to get hitched. Then it was the baby years, again I was the first and the rest followed suit.

As the years have passed, and the various family celebrations have come and gone, I now find myself at a time when a second wave of friends' children are now in the frame where weddings are concerned. The earlier ones have been and gone and done it and are now making aged grandparents out of people I used to rate as modern up to date contemporaries. Not any more - they are now drooling over their offspring's offspring, babysitting and bragging about the first smiles and movements, eeuwww!



Anyway back to the weddings. The first one was announced in a phone call last week and will be happening this coming Sunday. Some people would jump to the wrong conclusion - quick annoucement, must be pregnant. I know better - Elly is from another country (can't remember which but came over here via France where he and Debbie met) so the visa must be running out! Cynical? Moi? Surely not..... They have nowhere to live as yet, staying with our friend Penny for the unforseeable future. So wedding late Sunday afternoon at All Saints church in Hertford then back home for nibbles in the garden.



Meanwhile - cousin Barbara's eldest, Danielle, called me on my mobile phone on Sunday afternoon to announce that she and Malcolm, her live-in partner were now engaged, complete with ring. This wedding will take place in Mauritius in October and only the parents are invited so Barbara and Len will fly there from their new home in Bermuda and I, thankfully, don't have to be there even though I'm Danielle's adopted mum whilst Barb is away. it's less than a year since Barbara and Len got married themselves; as you can see in the photo, this was a very happy day. None of us stopped smiling the whole time.


All these weddings make me feel very claustrophobic - I know people won't let the occasions pass without comments regarding our unmarried state. And I do wonder why I'm still on the shelf... it makes so much financial sense to get married, don't worry about a proper 'do', just run down to the local register office with a friend or two as witnesses would do. I don't even want to change my name, just feel secure that's all. I know I've got the engagement ring but even so...




Oh well....