Call me unsympathetic....
or cranky and up past my bedtime. Whatever. I can’t believe the newlywed couple that I just saw on the news. They are unhappy with their wedding pictures. Yes, there was an unexpected technical problem with pics after their first dance that the photographer was unaware of. And I believe the photographer has attempted to work out a pro-ration of the bill or some such thing. But the couple wants about $35,000 to re-do the reception and $100,000 in punitive damages for destroying their dreams or some such nonsense.

Oh, maybe it’s June, my time of year of marital introspection. So folks, my message is....if that’s the worst thing that happens to you in married life, you’re lucky. Get over it. If you are going to weep on TV because you don’t have professional pics of the midnight balloon drop at your reception, you may find the rest of life difficult.

As for the money to restage the reception? There are some things in life that you just don’t get do-overs. That’s one of them. (The birth of your sixth child is another. And did you see me melt down at the camera counter when all the pics were blank? Nooo. OK, so I cussed a blue streak when I got back to the car. But baby Eddie was preverbal, so I don’t think it did him any damage.) Go ahead, have a short private outburst and move on. Televised apoplexy will not bring that magical night back. God gave us memories. Use them. You don’t have pics to show your future children? A lot of civilization has gotten by with the ‘oral history.’

Pictures are important to newlyweds. But the fascination wears off. I didn’t even know where our wedding album was for the past eight years. And it would most likely still be missing if I hadn’t torn the closet apart looking for Emily’s baby book.

Loss is part of life. Get a grip.
(If any local relocated Katrina survivors who have lost everything saw these whiny cry babies, I wouldn’t be surprised if their first inclination was to hurl a brick through the telly. It was mine....and my lifetime losses thus far have been minimal compared to many.)

Someday... when I'm awfully low
when the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
and the way you look tonight!
You just have to think. I don't need those pictures of baby Eddie. Every time I hear that song, I think of the night he was born. I can see him....just thinking of him, and the way he looked that night.