When I was Seventeen

Flowers from our friends of 56 years – Janet, Pam, Deb, and Scott – Thank you!

It was a very good year.

It was when I met Bill.

I told my Mom I had finally met a real “man” because Bill was all of 21.

My Dad didn’t like him.

We were married anyway, three years later.

Today is another anniversary.

Today we have been married 60 years!

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The Almost Royal Wedding

 

This was another wedding yesterday, May 19, 2018.

It was the same day as the actual Royal Wedding at Windsor of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, but this event was in Georgetown, District of Columbia, U.S.A.

And it was the almost royal wedding of our little friend, Suzanne (half English) to the enormous love of her life, sweet Michael.  Suzanne is a grownup now of course, but we met her when she was born.

Her Mom is from England (of the sweet, elegant, but lots of fun variety) and her Dad was an all American boy who spread his delightful brand of happiness all the way across the ocean and back to our house in rural Virginia.

The wedding was spine-tingling and tear provoking, just the way a true-love marriage should be.

And there she was – the most radiant beautiful bride!

  

Suzanne’s Mom walked her down the aisle because unfortunately, her Dad had passed away. How Terry would have loved to see Suzanne find such happiness, and to have the ceremony there in his favorite church!

One giggling moment was when Michael tried to put the wedding ring on the bride’s right hand!  That makes him “ours” for sure and something to share laughter about in later years.

No, I did not get to see the big royal wedding at Windsor, but this more than special occasion was a deeply meaningful, exceedingly joyful, Almost Royal Wedding that may have been was even better!

 

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There Goes Time

 

October 1989

Bill and I are going to a wedding this Merry Month of May 2018.

It’s the little girl in the photo!

Her name is Suzanne.

We were there to greet her a few days after she was born.

Then she and her family came to visit us often in Rural Virginia.

She created imaginary pizzas with Bill and went on hikes and swimming

with her Dad.

And of course, small town exploring in Lexington, Virginia with her Mom and me.

There goes Time again.

We shared happy days and stories through all her growing up years.

And we were there to celebrate her graduation from a college in Vermont.

And still she came to visit and loved our dogs and the country livin’.

She loved Carrie the Golden Retriever best and walks in the woods

and all the giggles.

And now we will be there for Suzanne’s wedding.

There goes Time.

There goes Time.

 

 

 

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Music Creates Bridges

There is a man in Rockbridge Baths, Virginia named Peter Del Vecchio.  When he was only eighteen, all his worldly possessions were struck by lightning and lost in a fire, but that was not an ending.  It was only the beginning of Peter’s life pursuit.

I silently call him “Mr. Talent” because his musical talent is so overwhelming it has been a guiding light through his entire life and because well, I have heard him play.

“Music creates bridges,” he said when we met yesterday.  Peter Del Vecchio is a professional trumpet player who definitely creates bridges.

Perhaps the vision of a trumpet player conjures up marching bands, jazz and taps, but the truth is that a trumpet (and the man behind it), either solo, or in combination with other instruments, can create unexpected magic in unexpected ways.  And at the risk of sounding too “poetic,” I know that to listen to Peter play is to be transported onto lilting wings of pure joy.

That’s why I recently asked to meet him in person.

Sharing something about Peter here on my blog was the ultimate goal.  It seems as though I am leaning in the direction of introducing remarkable people in my little area of Virginia and how lucky we are that Peter and his family live here now.

With a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey) and a Master of Arts degree in Music Performance (trumpet), cum laude Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey), Peter did not stop there but went on “creating bridges” in the field of music education and beyond.

He has a long history of associations with schools and universities, community outreach programs, band associations. As teacher, lecturer, composer, director, and adviser, Peter has done it all.  And his greatest satisfaction is in the friends he has accumulated  over the years who say, “You have changed my life.”

The biography of a man like Mr. Talent is endless and pointless unless you can hear him play.

And play he does.  Peter is still performing for weddings and ceremonies of all kinds, is often invited to play at church services too, and is still available as an instructor for brass and other wind and percussion instruments.   His ever popular Trio Festivo includes two horns and a piano and is amazingly moving at any special event.

It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Talent and I am happy to introduce:

Peter DelVecchio

Email: phdelvecchio@aol.com

Telephone:  540 460-2440.

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Once Upon a Time There Was a Gopher and a Construction Worker

Because new friends in the knitting group kindly asked about Bill and me, and our history,  I was reminded of a blog post from several years ago that marks our beginnings.

I was seventeen.

I found a summer job right after  high school.   The company put up screen enclosures around swimming pools and I was a “gopher” (go fer this – go fer that) handing out paychecks to the construction workers.  Among them was a handsome, deeply tanned, dark haired fellow named William.

That first day I went home and excitedly reported, “Mom, I met a man – not a boy – a twenty one year old man!  And he looks just like Tony Curtis!”

For those of you too young to know who Tony Curtis was – he was a much beloved movie star with adoring fans.

Do you see a resemblance?

One of these pictures is of the famous film star, Tony Curtis.

The one in uniform is Bill  when I first met him, when he just got out of the U.S. Air Force.

My Dad was from the old school and he referred to Bill as “the bum” because he came calling in flip flops (rubber thong shoes) and a white t-shirt with one sleeve rolled up to hold a pack of cigarettes.

That was the in image of the day, or as they say today, he was “cool” or is it “he was hot?”

My old-fashioned European Dad still believed a man should come courting in white shirt and tie so Bill didn’t live up to parental expectations.

Of course, that didn’t stop us.  We waited three more years before getting married in the local courthouse.

The picture below is of our wedding day and you can see my father’s unhappy stance in the background.

We both went back to our jobs after the wedding, with Bill working nights and attending university during the day.  I was a secretary in a real estate appraiser’s office.

Dad predicted Bill would divorce me after he graduated from college.  But he was so wrong because Bill did graduate, became a civil engineer, eventually  retired, and we have been married now for over 50 years!

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