So, despite the chaos at home, on the morning in question, we managed to dig out some half-decent clothes from amongst the rubble and dust, scrub ourselves up as best we could, and point the car in the general direction of their house, hoping against all hope that another bombshell might not be incoming from the hospitalised one.
Happily, when we arrived the flowers had been delivered, the champagne we left was chilled, and the toasting glasses were waiting to be filled. Presents were given, the bubbly was opened (which turned out to be a three person job for those of it not used to that sort of lifestyle), the pictures were taken, and there followed a certain amount of nostalgic chat of a bittersweet nature when the previous generations who did not live to achieve this number of years together were brought to mind.
There was also the usual banter about what was happening at the same time on that sunny, late August day all those years ago, about life sentences, and running shoes, and those last few minutes of "freedom", and we were all in a such a good mood that it seemed almost churlish for Mr Grumpy-Bottom to herd everyone into the car in order to get us all to the restaurant for the time that it had been booked at.
But then, as predicted by my pessimistic soul, the traffic misbehaved enough for us to be merely punctual instead of unfashionably early, and we were able to sit down at the appointed hour and have a lovely meal and once again toast the happy couple upon their achievement, before returning them home and drifting homewards ourselves a couple of hours later, reflecting upon a job well done.
Okay, so, as wild parties go it might have been somewhat lacking, and there was no roomful of relatives to cheer them on like there was in the Diamond (?) Wedding sequence (I don't know for certain because I wasn't really watching) in"The Wedding Singer" which happened to be on television that very same evening, but I think that it was an enjoyable enough day for everyone concerned.
Granted, the nostalgic tales which came up in conversation of previous generations having a house full of guests at Christmas and New Year did make me feel slightly guilty about the fact that I would probably have found such evenings "difficult" although, in the end, I do have to accept that to have a marriage last for that long really is something which ought to be celebrated, even if I am someone who struggles with celebrations in most of their forms.
But then, as predicted by my pessimistic soul, the traffic misbehaved enough for us to be merely punctual instead of unfashionably early, and we were able to sit down at the appointed hour and have a lovely meal and once again toast the happy couple upon their achievement, before returning them home and drifting homewards ourselves a couple of hours later, reflecting upon a job well done.
Okay, so, as wild parties go it might have been somewhat lacking, and there was no roomful of relatives to cheer them on like there was in the Diamond (?) Wedding sequence (I don't know for certain because I wasn't really watching) in"The Wedding Singer" which happened to be on television that very same evening, but I think that it was an enjoyable enough day for everyone concerned.
Granted, the nostalgic tales which came up in conversation of previous generations having a house full of guests at Christmas and New Year did make me feel slightly guilty about the fact that I would probably have found such evenings "difficult" although, in the end, I do have to accept that to have a marriage last for that long really is something which ought to be celebrated, even if I am someone who struggles with celebrations in most of their forms.
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