Could I have picked a longer post title?
Last weekend (like, 14 days ago now) we went to Charlottesville for wedding of one of my mentors, the conductor of the University Singers, a professor, a composer and author, a student (we took a course on Joyce’s Ulysses together), and a dear friend of mine. It was fantastic. We went to celebrate the marriage of friends. In Charlottesville, our happy place (apparently for good reason) and the home of other super close friends (including one who is was just three weeks old at the time!). With daughters (!!) in tow. AND there was singing.
Truth be told, the first 48 hours were a little rocky, since I took the trip solo with the girls (I had to be in Charlottesville sooner since I was singing in the choir) and John met me in Charlottesville after finishing up a string of shifts. Lesson learned: never take a road trip during regular toddler waking hours–oh the bitter, blurry tears of an exhausted mini-monster (whom I love dearly even during her convulsive rages). I called in a lot of favors, including having my overly-tired and generally confused children babysat by two professional oboists while I went to rehearse with the choir.
Too much good stuff to enumerate in a post, but one of the highlights was the wedding ceremony itself. Seems obvious, but in this case the ceremony was described by many as two concerts with a wedding intermission. There were some old favorites like “Set Me As a Seal” and “I Was Glad,” and then there were also original compositions by family and friends, one written specifically for the occasion. The chorus was made up of all former U-Singers and it was a rare privilege to have the opportunity to create such a pure and easy blend with listeners–I loved every moment. The kids made it to the wedding for a few moments before John found that keeping two children quite so long was an impossibility, but apparently Ari welcomed the music with as much enthusiasm as I witnessed during this performance.
For the reception, we left Ari with a good friend (who also happens to be a pediatrician!–could we be more spoiled?) but took Evie, since she doesn’t really have a bedtime yet and we’re taking full advantage of the “potted plant” infant stage. I get a little sad separating them for things like this, but it gives Ari a little extra individual attention while keeping her somewhat rested, and allows us to not always be distracted by a 100 mph toddler.
The eldest was rewarded the following day with a sweethaus date with her favorite Charlottesvillians:
anna in med school 
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