Actually, 'nice' is such a lame word, (or has become one through overuse) when referring to someone like Shelly. She is sweet, caring, genuine and a great friend.
We first met when she was working part-time at our radio stations, and I was an evening announcer. Most recently (eight years later), she was afternoon traffic announcer during my afternoon drive show. She left on maternity leave recently to have her first baby.
Shelly's wedding was the second-best wedding I've ever attended. (Obviously, my own - to Janne - comes first). Shelly's husband, Anthony, is an Elvis impersonator.
Their wedding was an event.
First - at the church - the congregation was generously dotted with Elvis impersonators. Mutton chop sideburns and pompadours everywhere. Apparently, Elvis impersonators are all friends with each other. Who knew? It was like nothing I'd ever seen. A church full of Elvises. The wedding ceremony itself was very sweet. Shelly looked beautiful. Anthony looked like - well - Elvis, actually.
But seriously, I know how special a day it was for Shelly, because she was with her three favourite men. Anthony, of course, but also her brother and her Dad. Shelly lost her Dad recently, and I know she will always cherish that she had him there by her side, on her big day.
The other memory I have from Shelly and Anthony's wedding was the entertainment at the reception. Sure, Anthony sang
...but so did Roy Orbison, and a host of others. Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe were there, too. As a matter of fact, Lucy ended up on my lap! She walked into the room, carrying suitcases, side by side with Marilyn. She spotted me, screamed, dropped the suitcases, ran toward me with a full head of steam, and jumped onto my lap.
Took me a good ten minutes to recover from the shock of the moment.
A fun wedding, a beautiful evening, and it was obvious that many people in their end of the entertainment industry love both Shelly and Anthony, and wanted to be part of the fun. Their MC was also brilliant and funny, and one the night's highlights was when he brought Shelly out on a chair into the middle of the dance floor and sang "Close To You" by the Carpenters to her - as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He did not, however, look like this, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Like I said, it was an event.
Shelly and my wife, Janne, are the same age. Both Janne and I and Shelly and Anthony got married around the same time of year... Janne and I in September of 2001,
and Shelly and Anthony the following September...and both Shelly and Janne had babies at very close to the same time, only months apart. The big difference there is that Shelly had one, while Janne had twice as many.
Something that Shelly and I agreed upon while talking at work - back and forth through our system of intercom buttons and speakers, while laughing with or at each other through the glass from our separate studios - was that our children would someday play together. Well, with everything that has gone on in our lives in the last year, we finally had the time to make their first visit together a reality.
Pictures of the get-together in a moment, but first things first. We recently bought a 'cage' for Liam and Morgan, because - although Morgan is the only one yet to crawl forward - they can both roll and twist their ways into places they shouldn't be, so we can no longer just leave them on the mats to 'run free'. I call it the "Cage Match cage", even though I personally have a definite loathing for professional wrestling, simply because it kinda looks like one. Apparently, Morgan thinks so, too, because she scored the first take-down once the cage was assembled.
Here's Morgan out visiting at a friend's house where there is no cage, showing off her forward motion skills, by the way. (Liam seems to be ever the encouraging brother in the background. "Run, Morgan! Make a break for it! I've got your back!")
By the way - Shelly and Anthony's baby is a lovely little girl - and they named her Lucy. She doesn't have the shocking red hair of the Lucy who jumped on my lap at their wedding, however.
Here's Lucy enjoying Liam and Morgan's exersaucer.
She seems to be asking, "You guys got any Elvis tunes for this record player?"
...and when the twins told her there were no Elvis tunes in the house, she made this expression.
Liam and Morgan actually seem to be more interested in making their own music these days...
...but here's the three of them enjoying the confines of the "Cage Match cage".
Worst that happened was Liam stealing Lucy's soother, but that's something Morgan taught him how to do, so you can't blame the boy. He loses his soother to Morgan every twenty minutes or so when they're in the general proximity of each other.
Unfortunately, I wasn't present for this first get-together. I had to work.
...but it looked like everyone got along well, and the kids will definitely be seeing more of each other, although Lucy will probably bring a lock for her soother.
The twins would like to thank you for stopping by.
