My friend Julia and I met when working in a Hospital Emergency Department on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. Julia was one of our Triage secretaries and greeted patients with her soft voice and gentle, calming spirit.
Julia, Jo (another R.N.), and I were all close zany friends who spent many happy MAD times together away from our work stress.
Me Jo Julia
Looking at us here, you would NEVER guess we were responsible for the care and safety of Emergency Patients. At this time in our lives, we were all single again ladies.
I left to attend a conference in Chicago (and met my future husband, Raymond from Tennessee). Jo went on to meet her Mark, and Julia found her Knight, Robert.
Julia wrote the story below about what became a very special time in her life. Love ya Mate!!
It has been some time now since the Princess and her Knight decided to build their home together. When they were out driving in their carriage one beautiful Sunday, they found a house being built, and it was For Sale! It was high on a hill overlooking a valley of misty trees in a place called Mooloolah Valley. They contacted the artisan who was building the house and negotiated a price. You may remember the Princess has written here of her ninety-two-year-old father. He has been succumbing to the passage of time and needed caring for, so separate chambers were built within the home for him. The house was finished in three months, and they moved in on Christmas Eve last year. There was much work to do around the grounds of the new manor house and many decorations inside to complete.
The Princess and her Knight were very much in love and wished to announce their commitment to each other throughout the countryside. They decided to have a festival to celebrate their new home and to surprise their friends. They told their children of their plans and contacted a marriage celebrant. They sent invitations throughout the land to friends far and wide. Come to our festival! Come one, come all! There will be music, much to eat, in the good and gracious company.
As the day grew closer, preparations were at a fever pitch. Musicians were organized to accompany the Princess’s dear Friend Lynette who was to sing them beautiful love songs Lynette’s voice is as lovely as her feathery namesake. The princess had asked her childhood friend Patricia to be her handmaiden on the special day. Patricia and her husband had to travel many miles to be at the festival. The Princess’s older daughter, Alanna, and her children live at the other end of the country, right up on the pointy part, and they traveled down to the festival. Her son Mathew and her younger daughter Meagan who live nearby, helped with preparations for the big day. There was much searching for the most beautiful clothes for the Princess and her Knight to wear. The Knight had chosen his daughter Bernadette’s husband Lee to be his Page. A jeweler was found to fashion two gold rings.
The evening before the festival, as the family gathered to help with last-minute preparations, there was a commotion on the adjoining landholding. There was a great deal of smoke, and it was discovered that the fields were on fire. The firefighters came and extinguished the blaze. Before retiring, the Princess decided to brew some coffee for her family and discovered that the water pump was not working. Seventy people were coming to the festival at noon the next day and no water! Calamity! Luckily at midnight, they were able to find a plumber who fixed the problem early the next morning.
The morning of the sixth day of the twelfth month dawned gloriously. It was typical Australian Christmas weather, warm and sultry, but luckily high on the hill, there was a gentle breeze. The knight’s three grandsons, Michael, Matthew, and Ben, were preparing great platters of fruit to welcome the guests as they started arriving at noon.
Many of the happy couples traveling friends and associates of the Princess from her workplace came. The Princess is a forward-thinking woman and has not yet retired from public life. All of the invited guests are wonderful people who have made a difference in the lives of the couple. The marriage celebrant arrived, and the handmaiden’s husband announced to the gathered throng that something very special was about to happen.
The knight and his page took their places on the side of the balcony to the left of the marriage celebrant Audrey. Audrey came from the faraway Emerald Isles and spoke in the soft brogue of the Princess’s grandmother, who was also of Celtic origin. The handmaiden entered the balcony from the other side and then came the Princess in her beautiful mauve gown, escorted by her two grandsons, Max and Jack. The ceremony was beautiful, and many surprised guests were moved to tears. Ruby read a well-wishing prayer from an ancient parchment. Lynette and Meagan sang beautiful love Ballads. Gold Rings were exchanged, and toasts to past loves were given. The Knight’s Mother and the Princess’s Father were both very happy that their loved ones had found their Anam Cara.
There was much feasting and just a little imbibing. A wedding to talk about for many years to come.
Jo and Mark
Raymond and I (My dearest man passed to Glory on 4th June 2022)
"Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence."
Proverbs 27:9
That is a romantic story about your friend's wedding to her Knight, and sad to hear about your loss. I am a widow too, since 2016, and Christ is my cornerstone and gives me so many blessings.
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