I took the overnight bus back to Philly. I was sad to leave Boston, but I’m now grateful for a day to just get back into school mode. John started work at 7pm last night, so I had a few hours before my 12:15am bus to do a last load of laundry and work on a few projects.
I have a habit of, when I leave a place, taking a moment to look around the room to a) scan for anything I might be forgetting (which happens seriously all the time), and 2) just kind of say goodbye to the place itself, letting my gaze rest for a few seconds on anything particularly significant. Maybe because yesterday we received two invitations for the weddings of good friends, I let myself read over our old wedding invite, which, lovingly framed by the Shuylers, currently hangs above John’s desk. I like to think it’s fairly nontraditional. We came very close to doing everything in evite form, but we were informed that was tacky (I don’t know, I have no manners), so John made a simple postcard-like print, and then we did online RSVPs.
Both lovers of literature, we really wanted to include a short snappy, hopefully not overly cheesy quote (a right amount of cheese is appropriate for weddings, I think). This I remember clearly: John suggested perhaps a modification of this quote from “Three Women,” “What did my arms do before they held you?” (I can hear my sister gagging.)
Me: Oh God, we can’t use that.
John: Why not? It’s sweet.
Me: Well, first of all, it’s about a newborn. Babies are great, but I so do not want to go there. Secondly, it’s Sylvia Plath.
John: I like Sylvia Plath.
Me: So do I. But her marriage is not one I personally would like to emulate. And then she put her head in an oven. Not to be insensitive, but I’m pretty sure that disqualifies her from a wedding invite.
And so we opted for a quote from another somewhat depressed writer, James Joyce. Not sure his marriage with Nora Barnacle was entirely ideal, but I kind of love how his obsession with her lazy eye works its way into all his fiction following their meeting. From Ulysses, quite possibly the best book ever: “Love loves to love love.”
I couldn’t upload the pdf of our actual invite, but here’s the picture we used as the background, courtesy of the incredibly talented and wonderfully spirited Julie Napear Wichern:
Okay, be honest: who is getting sick and tired of hearing about and seeing pictures of John and me? I have a feeling I’ll tone it down when we’re back in the same city.
anna in med school 