Flow

When I was about 12 or 13 I was a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding. It was so exciting, and the only time I've ever been a participant in anyone's wedding. Though I have quite a few married friends and relatives, I've actually only been to a handful of weddings. Jeeze, I just counted. SIX!

Anyhow, the first wedding that I can recall ever attending was said cousin's wedding, and it was a blast. She was a young bride, I'd say in her early twenties, and she'd been dating her fiance for about a year and a half. It was a really traditional wedding, with the young couple's friends in attendance, and all the usual pre-parties, including a rehearsal dinner at some restaurant which ended up in someone's basement "rec room." I don't remember TOO much about the details, but I remember the shag orange carpeting and wood panel walls.

My cousin was excited about being married. Her soon-to-be-husband was an awesome guy. I secretly had a bit of a crush on him. He was an auxiliary policeman for the city, and one of the gifts bestowed on him by his ushers was one of those giant club-like police flashlights. Arnie opened it up and thanked the guy who gave it to him. I was standing nearby when a few moments later Mary sneaked over and leaned in toward her fella, taking hold of the flashlight while she enquired coyly, "Is it THIS big?"

I was shocked! Not because I had overheard such a private exchange, but because,...."WHAT?! You're going to marry this guy tomorrow and you haven't seen it yet?!?"

"What if it's tiny?" I wondered. "What if it IS that big?" (I mean, even I knew that flashlight was TOO big.) Had I been a bit older and a lot more tipsy I probably would have actually SAID those things aloud, and suggest those two sneak off for a preview. And a test drive. You know, just to be sure.

Actually, a few weeks earlier when I'd come into town for a dress fitting, I recall the bride confiding to her maid-of-honour that she'd done the math, and was going to be "period free" for the honeymoon ("thank God, because Arnie would kill me!") I wasn't used to being privy to such frank adult exchanges, and my mind reeled a bit. What would happen if she'd been on her period during the honeymoon? No sex? Really?

Heh.

This weekend, I'll attend my seventh wedding. I'm all excited about it. More than the bride seems to be. (She even said as much to me today!) Without actually saying anything specific, let me tell you it feels like I'm back in the early eighties once again, if ya know what I mean. Oh, and like, this bride's math equation isn't as fortunate as my cousins!

And did you know that sometimes women in Korea go to the pharmacy to get some medicine to delay their Aunt's visit for a couple weeks? "I did take it before so I could go swimming." I was told by another woman today. (Turns out I think she was referring to swimming on holiday, which makes more sense. Everyone has the same holiday here, and it's not like you'd re-schedule because you can't swim.)

But,...can't one swim or have sex on their period? It's never stopped me. Maybe I need to be shunned. Maybe I need to spend a few days in the Menses Tent for being unclean. Maybe I'm out of the loop. I've never let the shedding of my uterine stop me, even momentarily, from doing anything. Ever.

I went out tonight and bought the bride a totally see through tiny little white spaghetti strapped baby doll nightie. I'll give it to her tomorrow with my best wishes and a wink.