THE WEDDING CAKE

What can I say. It's a long, strange trippy story. I'll try to keep it short.

Himself and I decided to let the law in on our party roughly fifteen years back so that we could reap the legal benefits of married couples. We're very private, shy people, very much aware of the need to cultivate that aloof artist vibe, so naturally quick, quiet and private would be the way to go. When a close friend heard the news, he insisted he be included and we were only too happy to do so. On the appointed day, we left the house we'd been sharing for 2 years, headed down to a beautiful little town nestled on the Sound to the Justice of the Peace and did the deed, enjoyed incredible vittles at our favorite establishment at the time and came back home. A few days later we would set off to Lake Placid to attend the wedding of some close friends who thought it'd be cool to marry on the side of a mountain. We all needed mouth to mouth by the time we reached the spot, already attended by nipping horse flys the size of grapes. But I digress.

Fast forward to this past weekend. The friend who attended our wedding was coming for a long over-due visit. In fact, he hadn't darkened our door since that wonderful day, fifteen years ago. He is an artist as well, and we'd discussed some work I could print out for his use so it was to be a 2-3 day working visit.

He arrived on schedule. In his van were at least between 25-30 beautifully wrapped gifts: 4 antique chairs, a plastic bin full of pre-cut, brightly colored felt hearts—which he planned to throw indiscriminately about the house and sidewalk; white streamers; two of those fold out white wedding bells; two rather large, hand-made sombrero type foam core hats—complete with chin ribbons onto which we were to attach every silk flower that adorned each gift; and last but not least, a fully-cooked Italian Sunday gravy meal, complete with 3 kinds of meat and the thickest spagetti I've ever seen. And, I'm sure I've left some items out!

Having just finished cleaning the house and finally putting the store room back in order, I was not at all feelin' the hearts, or the streamers, or the bells. Now I regret it, it would have been such fun. But, I was beat and as he excitedly laid out plans for the evenings festivities I was stunned into a horrified silence. Also, I thought of himself, who had just told me on the phone that he might be having what could quite possibly be called the worst day of his career as a graphic artist. He would be coming home to what basically amounted to a Wedding Shower Mardi Gras Ambush!

Our friend told us that even though we'd escaped for 15 years, we had to, like everyone else who gets married, suffer the degradation, embrassment and humiliation of a wedding shower. Himself arrived home and immediately jumped into the spirit of the night and we had a wonderful time, even with my grumping about the mess and space I would have to now make for all the stuff he brought. Can you believe my cheek? In my defense, I'm not a complete witch. Some of the stuff was stuff he couldn't bring himself to toss in the bin, but most of it was simply divine and thoughtful. We were presented with 3 beautifully framed original wood-cut prints, more platters than I'll ever need and an entire truckload of subjects for my daily paintings! There will be no more complaining about not having anything old and interesting to paint I can tell you.

And now to the cake. It is simply amazing. He could make a fortune creating fabric replicas of wedding cakes! We didn't have a cake at all, but now we do and it will last longer than we will, I'm sure. Our life span, not the union. We were speechless. He even created a sturdy foam-core box in which to store it! Words can't describe. It was one of the nicest gifts we've ever been given and we'll cherish it and that really strange night forever.

Thank you Jeff, we love you too.