So That's a "Real" Wedding
Though, granted, there wasn't any major religious aspect of it.
Friday
We left for Denver shortly after the work rush. Though Mapquest pegged the travel time as 6 hours, it took us more like 7. No biggie. Safely arrived, we settled into our hotel room and headed off to look for the Tattered Cover. This led us to the Cherry Creek Mall which was, sadly, lacking in the very store we were looking for. Still, it was neat to look around and we were sooned armed with the knowledge the store had moved to someplace on another street. We looked on our way back, but didn't pass through the right area and thusly missed it altogether. Still, we were also looking for dinner about that time.
"Is that-? Wait, can you turn around? See if we can get back there!" Or I said something to that effect as we passed by a bit of landscape that dredged up dim memories of visits to Denver with my parents years ago.
So it was that we ended up having dinner at Casa Bonita. Gorged on some tasty Mexican food and amused by the entertainment, we then proceeded to another optional stop and watched "Pulse." It was a long day, the movie finishing around midnight, but a very enjoyable one.
Saturday
A much more lazy start to the day. After getting up, Nina went to meet up with some old friends for brunch. I hung on my own, as I suspect they'd just as soon not see me. Instead I took a leisurely walk around the area and ended up having a Monte Cristo for lunch. That was a new experience, and tasty in ways I wasn't prepared for. When we got back together, there was a trip to Mile High Comics in Lakewood which netted me nothing. What few comics I feel inclined to get right now are already ordered. Ah well. Then it was back to the hotel for a while. We watched "Over the Hedge" as a pay-per-view movie and finally got suited up to go to this shindig.
I was expecting something completely different with the road and missed the manor entirely the first time. How? Well... talent, I guess. Asking for directions got us back on track, though, and we arrived with plenty of time. The many phases of the wedding were well-orchestrated (save one minor deal at the presentation of the ring, but that's not my tale to tell). I met people I'd never seen, a few I hadn't seen for years, and one I hadn't seen since high school. The atmosphere was jovial and I very much enjoyed it even though I most certainly did not dance (though I must give Jen credit for trying). Given some of the guests, I actually felt *almost* overdressed. But I couldn't have done less considering it was one of my oldest friends, and he'd done so much for the ceremony. Dinner was nice, the cake was tasty, and the chocolate fountain was amusing.
Pictures, I'm sure, are forthcoming in some venue I have no control over.
Sunday
Pretty simple, really. Breakfast downstairs in the hotel, then off for home. Thus I have returned. I have no "loot" - which seems odd for a trip to a major city - but I've experienced new things, relived old things, and on the whole I feel very good about the trip.
Friday
We left for Denver shortly after the work rush. Though Mapquest pegged the travel time as 6 hours, it took us more like 7. No biggie. Safely arrived, we settled into our hotel room and headed off to look for the Tattered Cover. This led us to the Cherry Creek Mall which was, sadly, lacking in the very store we were looking for. Still, it was neat to look around and we were sooned armed with the knowledge the store had moved to someplace on another street. We looked on our way back, but didn't pass through the right area and thusly missed it altogether. Still, we were also looking for dinner about that time.
"Is that-? Wait, can you turn around? See if we can get back there!" Or I said something to that effect as we passed by a bit of landscape that dredged up dim memories of visits to Denver with my parents years ago.
So it was that we ended up having dinner at Casa Bonita. Gorged on some tasty Mexican food and amused by the entertainment, we then proceeded to another optional stop and watched "Pulse." It was a long day, the movie finishing around midnight, but a very enjoyable one.
Saturday
A much more lazy start to the day. After getting up, Nina went to meet up with some old friends for brunch. I hung on my own, as I suspect they'd just as soon not see me. Instead I took a leisurely walk around the area and ended up having a Monte Cristo for lunch. That was a new experience, and tasty in ways I wasn't prepared for. When we got back together, there was a trip to Mile High Comics in Lakewood which netted me nothing. What few comics I feel inclined to get right now are already ordered. Ah well. Then it was back to the hotel for a while. We watched "Over the Hedge" as a pay-per-view movie and finally got suited up to go to this shindig.
I was expecting something completely different with the road and missed the manor entirely the first time. How? Well... talent, I guess. Asking for directions got us back on track, though, and we arrived with plenty of time. The many phases of the wedding were well-orchestrated (save one minor deal at the presentation of the ring, but that's not my tale to tell). I met people I'd never seen, a few I hadn't seen for years, and one I hadn't seen since high school. The atmosphere was jovial and I very much enjoyed it even though I most certainly did not dance (though I must give Jen credit for trying). Given some of the guests, I actually felt *almost* overdressed. But I couldn't have done less considering it was one of my oldest friends, and he'd done so much for the ceremony. Dinner was nice, the cake was tasty, and the chocolate fountain was amusing.
Pictures, I'm sure, are forthcoming in some venue I have no control over.
Sunday
Pretty simple, really. Breakfast downstairs in the hotel, then off for home. Thus I have returned. I have no "loot" - which seems odd for a trip to a major city - but I've experienced new things, relived old things, and on the whole I feel very good about the trip.
I told Di, but I figured I should tell you, too - thanks for sharing about the weekend, since I didn't get to be there!
ReplyDeleteYou had a chance to be part of a real wedding once. There's a lot of things that have waited too many years to be said. We could have spent time with you too instead of just watching you walk down the road. You know where to find me.
ReplyDelete5 years and change... That's probably long enough, but I'm not sure what there is to say. Given who we were, I'm not sure things could have played out any differently. A number of things happened leading up to that day which were individually just inconsiderate or thoughtless, but together they wounded my pride enough that I couldn't do the socially-acceptable thing (which would have been to suck it up and go to the wedding anyway). If I could go back with what I know now, I'd do things differently, yes. But I'd start long before your wedding.
ReplyDeletePride be damned, and we know that between the three of us we have enough to sink a small country! Do you know how much it hurt having Susan apologise for you not being there, with none of us even knowing what really was going on? You were supposed to be Mike's best man, and he's never forgotten that. And all he knows now is that all the people he's ever cared for have abandoned him for things they viewed more important than him. I've spent the last 5 years wondering if there was something that I did to result in it somehow. But you never told us anything other than that last email that's pretty much burned into my brain. I might do a good job at writing articles, but I know I'm not the best at communication. But I try, awkward and clumsy though it might be. Aren't friends supposed to talk to each other?
ReplyDeleteSo the theory goes, though we didn't seem to be very good at it back then. I just don't think there's very much I can offer at this point. At the time leading up to the wedding, I sat down and looked at the previous six months or more as seriously as I could. The conclusion I came to was that the friendship between us had already crumbled through little or no fault of my own. I did not feel I had been treated properly as a friend. Now... I couldn't possibly cite what all was on my mind then. I remember my line of thinking, but not more than a couple specifics as to why. And those, as I've said, seem to be comparably trivial miscommunications when I look at them without whatever other baggage I may have carried at the time. So yes, I am sorry things happened as they did. And I'm sorry to have hurt you both. At the time, it seemed better to have me absent than present and bitter. But does this help or somehow make up for things? I can't really imagine so.
ReplyDeleteScott, honey, he was in DENVER for a good chunk of the six months before the wedding- he moved up there for good in February, had been half living up there since sometime in January. Of course he wasn't going to be around. Communication between he and I was scarce enough, and we were trying to get the wedding and everything else figured out. Yes, you hurt us. In different ways, I'm sure, but you hurt us nonetheless. Paraphrasing what I told Nina, "I'm still angry at him, and hurt by what he did, but the little bastard still has a piece of my heart." Not particularly my kindest phrasing, but true nonetheless. Especially in that time, the trust I gave you meant a lot. I felt safe with you, which is a high compliment indeed. Dammit. This is hard to do through essentially emails. Nina has my number. It's my cell, so you'd be talking to just me. Or I have pretty much every chat program. *coughs* Yeah, I'm still the same in that respect. I'm glad you responded. I might not like what you say, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter to me. I just wish that things could have been said before it got so bad.
ReplyDeleteOn the up side, text makes it a bit easier to think first rather than just getting emotional. Not that anything is necessarily protection from getting emotional, I admit. And yeah, I suspect his going to Denver was included in my rationale at the time. It seemed somewhat sudden to me at the time. Not as sudden, of course, as when he left the Herald for another job and I found out days later from another coworker. That stung, and it's little things like that which piled up in my mind. But now, I really don't know what to say about it. Yes, better communication could probably have solved everything - but clearly that didn't happen. As I said, if I had it to fix, I'd start well before April of 2001. But that's hindsight for you, and I haven't the power to spare us all the pain we endured. So here we are. I can't really argue now that I was right or wrong, only that I felt justified at the time.
ReplyDeleteThe downside with text also lies with emotions. I know I've managed to misinterpret people a number of times through text. Clearly there were a lot of communication goofs and issues. On both sides. The question is if you think it's worthwhile to try and patch things up? Seems kind of stupid to me to just throw away all those years of friendship, but hey. What do I know? *wry smile*
ReplyDeleteSorry to step in here, but I can see where you are coming from. A friend of mine split off from me (and we lived in the same house), and we didn't talk to each other for almost eight years. He and I have a common friend, and when he found out my friend knew me, he was like 'oh!', and asked to get in touch with me. We're friends again, which is cool. He missed my wedding, I missed his. A shame, really. But he says that the reason he ended our friendship was something small, and not worth everything we missed. To this day, I have no idea what caused it to happen. Sometimes, though, things build up, little things which by themselves may not have been much. I hope this works out, and things can be patched up between you three.
ReplyDeleteI'll reply mor ein depth tomorrow (just got off a plane)... but that may be the first time someone, anyone, has reffered to the food at Casa Bonita as "TASTY"...
ReplyDelete