Checkin' in checkin' out
Take it to the
sky
Making love while I'm watching all your fireworks
I like it
when I light those stars in your eyes
Just like the fireworks in
the sky
Fireworks in the sky
"Fireworks in the sky" – Roxette
- I – 'The Frumpenheimer', Southfield Road 15, 10438 Sprottenham -
Today is the morning of a very special day. The wedding bells have
been ringing for Solvej all night.. like they had for several nights
now.. and finally the day was here. The day when she would marry the
man she had known for the past 15 years... 14 years of being a
couple, and 13 years of living together, hoping that one day he would
ask the question.. 13 years and three children.. As an afterthought
she probably should have come to the realization that it would never
happen and taken matters into her own hands much sooner.. but atleast
now it was done. He said yes, and she was the luckiest woman on the
planet.. or at the very least as lucky as she thought she could be
right now..
She couldn't call him a perfect man by all accounts, he had his temper.. his grumpy moments, but he did his job.. he cared for the children, taught them what he knew, read bedtime stories for them without hesitation, and loved her.. loved her like no other man had ever done before...
There were moments where she had been in doubt, when she saw him flirting with other women.. but over the years she had settled with the thought that it just who he was, it was just his way of being.. he had a big appetite for women.. there was no doubt about it.. it was something she had benefitted from several times over and over.. and that's when she found herself lucky... to have tamed such a beast and to keep him faithful to her for all these years...
This was definately going to be an important day, and it had even
– as it should – attracted a few visitors from far away.. They had travelled allt he way from where they lived, and where
Solvej grew up, in Freetown Ciani Tharis in the southwestern part of
the country..
Rune
was happy to have grandma and grandpa visiting over summer. He
especially liked grandma, nobody knew as much about fishing as
grandma! His friends at the boy scouts would be so impressed by
everything he had learnt when he came back to school over summer!
There was no doubt about it! Grandma also knew a lot about gardening
and plants, but Rune wasn't to interested there..
It was always nice for grandma and grandpa too, to say hi to their
grandkids, and young Silvia really enjoyed being picked up and
tickled by her grandma Mona as well. ;)
A litte later in the day grandpa Rolf told his wife that he'd just
hop on his bike because he had an errand downtown.. it shouldn't take
long and he would soon be back.. and if any of the others asked where
he was, he was just out getting some fresh air and a bit of
exercize..
Mona wants to give her daughter a gift on this special day, so she gives her something special from her collection of garden seeds – a box containing all the wolve's bane seeds she has harvested from her garden this year, all 117 of them! ;)
Needless to say Solvej is very excited about this gift – she
pretty much grew up in her mothers garden – and has nothing but
fond memories of the scent of the plants blossoming in spring,
getting dirt under her fingernails and without warning being splashed
with cold water from the sprinkler... ah, good times! Solvej is
definately a seed that didn't fall to far from the apple tree, and
yes you may interpret that in any way you like... ;)
While mother and daughter strengthened their bond even further,
young Lilian had finally succeeded in mastering the art of walking,
and was now feeling exhausted from all the times she had to get up
from falling on her little bottom..
Then a grandma that can take the little one to bed and make sure she gets some rest to keep her from being cranky during the wedding is a good thing to have..
Patrik, being a top level athlete, had to get some physical training in, even on his wedding day.. and grandpa Rolf was back from his trip downtown to make Silvia fly.. Solvej was a little worried she would grab on to the lamp cord there, but grandpa assured her he had everything under control...
- II – Harbour Square -
After some more playing around with the kids, and grandma a little
grumpily, finding it necessary to clean up a little around her
daughters house, it was time for everyone, except the bride, to put
on their finest wear and head to downtown for the wedding.. Solvej
didn't want to reveal her dress yet, just in case it would mean bad
luck for Patrik to see it to early.. and grandma went straight for
the drink making. This was going to be a festive event for sure!
Well, she had to change eventually.. and her uncle Hans-Tore couldn't have been happier or more proud of his niece! She was so beautiful in that dress, it was perfect! ;) Of course, it wasn't just Solvejs parents that had made the trip. Her two older brothers August and Sylvester René was there, along with her aunt Victoria, and of course.. her uncle Hans-Tore. ;) There wasn't room for all of them in Patrik and Solvejs home, so they had to rent each their hotel room at the Seafront Hotel.
Now everybody take your seats, I think the ceremony is about to begin soon...
It suddenly came to Patrik what was about to happen as he walked up to meet with Solvej under the wedding arch.. "Solvej... we're getting married!" he exclaimed with the enthusiasm of a captain whose football team just won the national championship.. but Solvej was much more than just a trophy to him...
She was the yin to his yang to put it that way; the calm earthly power that kept him grounded and focused.. who knows where he would've been in life if it wasn't for her.. he would've been running, that's for sure, but not on the football field..
Solvej, though internally both excited and terribly nervous, managed to keep a straight face.. "Yes, we are.. we just have to wait for my father to stop playing with Lilian.. Dad.. if you don't mind..."
"Oh, sorry..." he excused himself while gently putting Lillian on the ground.. "Your mom and dad is going to do something very important.. they'll unite and become one in the name of the Holy Spirit.." Lilian didn't have much of a clue what he was talking about, but she understood enough to sit still and keep quiet, watching mom and dad all dressed up and ceremonial.. She didn't know what any of this was for, or why everyone acted the way they did, but it was probably meaningful for something..
Patrik had practiced the words to himself in front of the mirror
several times over, at home when Solvej wasn't there, or in the
wardrobe at the stadium after team practice, resulting in some
friendly mocking among the guys.. He could be in full control, or so
he felt, captaining his team during the most intense moments of any
football match, but right here, under this wedding arch.. he had to
focus and breathe to not lose focus of where he was, and what he was
about to do.. and not forget or fumble the words...
"Solvej.. do you take this ring.. this man.. "
"Solvej.. do you take me to be your.. to be your husband in life.. to live together in holy matrimony, to love, to honor, to comfort and to keep in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as both of us are.. both of us shall live?"
"I do."
"Patrik... do you take me to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part?"
"I do...."
"...and I hereby give you this ring as a token and pledge of
our constant faith and abiding love."
"I think we just did it, Solvej.. I think we're married..
we're husband and wife." Patrik felt like a child again, or so
he thought... the actual child in front had since long lost interest
in the ceremony and was instead intently focused on grandpa.. what
was mommy and daddy doing up there to make grandpa and everyone else
cry like this?
"..is this where we kiss?" he whispered to her quickly so that nobody would hear..
"Yes, Patrik.. this is where we kiss..." she said
softly, before locking her lips to his, and this was excactly like
the moment she had dreamt of... or atleast as close as it could get..
it felt like she was floating, gently with the rhythm of the waves as
they rolled past the lighthouse and into the harbour.. She wasn't
sure which one of them was the ship, but it didn't matter.. the ship
was definately home now...
Not everyone was acting in a respectful manner... Sandra wasn't invited to the wedding, but still showed up using the opportunity to shake her own booty there now that her husband was in prison...
..but well, that aside, this was definately a proud moment for
Solvejs parents, to watch their daughter get married, and even Rune
was cheerful now, after having been a little bored with everything
earlier..
Rune was on the spot right away as his mom got the honour of opening it. "Can I have a piece now, mom?"
"Yes, my boy... I'll give you the first piece. Just wait a
few seconds more..."
"Thanks, mom" he said running off with his piece.. He
didn't quite get what the fuzz was all about, why mom and dad had to
spend so much time preparing, dressing up, exchanging rings and all
that.. what difference would this make? They had been living together
ever since before he was born anyway, so why do all this now? It was
nice to get cake though... and it was nice to grandma and grandpa
again, so he wasn't complaining.. It was also always nice to have a
party, but birthday parties were much more important than this.. and
christmas.. because then he got presents! And that was the best thing
in the world, to get presents! He didn't get any presents now, he
just got cake. It was a pretty big cake, though.
..and then, just like her sister had done earlier this day, Silvia wanted to prove she wasn't any worse, and had learnt to walk as well. And her father Patrik was dancing of joy in the background, what a glorious day. Let the party begin! ;)
It usually isn't the bride that's responsible for the
entertainment at her own wedding, but this is Solvej. This is just
what she does, so of course she had to bring out her guitar and play
some happy tunes. ;)
There was joy, music and dancing... and pie eating contests. Left to right on this one is Leya, Anne-Gerd, Leyas husband Gaute and Gabriela.
Leya and Gaute along with their daughter Bodil used to live in the same household as Solvej, Patrik and Rune, mimicking the family community feel that Solvej was used to when she grew up, but eventually Leya and her family had to move out as tensions in grew in the household, mostly because of Patriks inappropriate behaviour.. and that they would probably run out of space to, as Leya was also pregnant with their son Orinder at this time.
Anne-Gerd is more or less permanently single and lives with the Slettemoen family.
Gabriela is a good friend of Solvej, and a former colleague of Solvej from the time when she worked at the theatre before she chose to focus full time on her gardening. Gabriela still works at the theatre, and is a colleague of both Leya and Anne-Gerd. The four women are also singers in the all female choir, 'The Sirens'.
Mona had sat down to eat cake by the tables outside the Harbour Café with her oldest son August (to the left) and her brother Hans-Tore.
- III – Fireworks -
The sun was soon about to set.. it wasn't dark yet, but Rolf was getting a little impatient to use what he had went out and bought at the grocery store earlier.. so he decided to light up a few small rockets as a teaser for what he hoped with be the grand finale and the definete highlight of this evening.. well, second to the actual marriage, of course. He wasn't there to steal the show.. just add to it!
Mona had decided to make another round of drinks for everyone
while he was doing so. Nobody was very impressed so far, as the first
rocket misfired, creating a potentially hazardous situation.. he was
lucky it flew off towards the harbour and not the other way towards
the café... Café owner Eddie Opsahl was a little nervous there for
a while.. he had already been threatened once with having his café
go up in smoke, and didn't really want to think about that again...
There wasn't a lack of entertainment as both Leya and Selma took
their turns playing guitar, while grandpa kept fiddling about with
his explosives and pyrotechnics.
..as the sun set behind the hills and the moon rose over the sea.. you can tell from the way the shadows are cast that the sun is setting behind them.. no moon shines as bright as the moon does over Sprottenham, it's almost like a second sun.. or atleast that's what the locals would have you believe..
This is from Patriks personal photo album of the event. Little Silvia had to do some photobombing in the lower left corner. ;)
..and Rolf was pleased with his smoke bombs, and how he thought their blue and green colours blended in perfectly with the purple haze of the evening sky.. this must've been some kind of magic..
..and of course, it's not a good wedding if not atleast one person passes out before the night is over..
Kari Slettemoen, the director of the local female choir, is usually a very strict and orderly person, but it looks like tonight she may have had one drink to many...
...as he lit the fuse on what was a show in the sky only rivaled by the annual New Years Eve fireworks.. and as everyone stood their with their necks bent to gawk at the sky, he made a wish for his daughters marriage to shine just as bright and glorious as these fireworks in the sky....
By the time it was over, it was clear that this day and night had
definately been a success and an event that would join all the other
parties as one that the local citizens would talk about for years to
come..
Nothing was left of the wedding cake, just like it should
be, and Solvej was tired, but happy when the time came to pick up the
toddlers and go back home..
The wedding night ended calmly with the newlyweds going out like two lights immediately as they went to bed as grandpa lulled the toddlers to sleep, but rest assured that there will be several opportunities later for fireworks also in the bed and several other place for this couple, so don't worry about that...
Good night... ;)
Family and wedding photo:
Back row: Silvia (held), Victoria, Rolf, Mona, Lilian (held), Hans-Tore
Front row: August, Rune, Solvej, Patrik, Sylvester René
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