Something Old Becomes Renewed

     Last weekend was a wonderful reminder that we never know how or when friends from long ago will come back into our lives. Kevin and I went to Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend to be there for the wedding and surrounding festivities of a friend I first met when we were in fifth grade together at St. Mary’s School.
     It was funny when people at the informal gathering at her brother’s apartment on Friday evening asked how Meghan and I knew each other,
and I got to answer that we’d first met and become friends in elementary school, then had gone to the same high school, been in the same Confirmation group taught by my mom our junior year, were peer leaders for the next year’s group of Confirmands, and had kept in touch since.     When Kevin and I got married in September 2004, Meghan wasn’t able to come to the wedding, so she came over to my mom’s house to give me a card and wedding gifts. We laughed quite a bit at her choice of a cookie sheet as part of my gift. It was a reminder of a time back in high school when we were working on a French project together, part of which involved baking cookies. I suppose I should have been concerned when she took the cookie sheet out to the sunroom in order to spray it with Pam. Not too long after that we turned the light on in the oven and saw the gingerbread shaped cookies literally sliding off the cookie sheet. We were in hysterics both then and the next day when we had to give our presentation in class.      Meghan asked me a while ago if I would photograph their wedding. I said I’d be honored. In high school, it was very rare for me to be without my 35mm Pentax camera. I was Photo Editor for the newspaper and loved taking pictures, so my camera became, in essence, another appendage.
     Since Meghan is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Political Science at Yale who has been living and doing research off and on in Burundi, I hadn’t seen her in recent months. We’d just kept up over Facebook and via e-mail.
     I was very excited when I received their wedding invitation and knew I’d have a special role in capturing the blessed event. I had photographed the wedding of a college friend and had really enjoyed being there to help her get ready, see the ceremony, and her glowing face at the reception.

     I had a blast taking tons of pictures starting early in the morning when Meghan’s soon-to-be sister-in-law Alicia was doing her make-up and hair. Alicia, her brother Sam (the groom) and his family are from England. Several of the wedding guests were from Europe. The couple that stood as witnesses for Sam and Meghan’s ceremony have been living and doing work in the Congo. It was interesting to think how God brought people from all over the globe together for this event.

     The wedding was beautiful. There were many special touches, such as Meghan’s handmade in Burundi bridal gown, a friend who sang for them, Meghan’s brother David playing the keyboard, Sam’s mom and sister reading together at the service, and a toast to the newlyweds which included blessings in a number of different languages.

     I took so many pictures that I filled up the memory card by the time they had just finished cutting the cake. I’d taken over 1042 photos since that morning and the reception was still going on. The food was delicious, the pictures came out beautifully, and a good time was had by all.
     I couldn’t resist giving Meghan and Sam wedding gifts that would remind her of our hilarious cookie catastrophe. I gave her a huge spray bottle of Pam, gingerbread cookie mix, frosting and decorations, and a cookie sheet with a rather high lip around the edge as a safety precaution.
     Lord, thank you for the gift of old friends, who have known and loved us for years, who have prayed with and for us, and who you have kept a part of our lives. Amen.