I am a sucker for a wedding and today's was just lovely. I was up at 5:15 a.m. just in time to watch Princes William and Harry leave St. James palace for Westminster Abbey. Over the years I've gotten up early to watch Princess Anne, Fergie and Andrew, Princess Diana and now her son, Prince William get married.
A long, long time ago Norman and I got to go to London and I've been in St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey and traveled many of the streets seen in this morning's celebrations. I loved it there. I remember just arriving and wanting to see something famous. We watched buses pass and finally one passed that said 'Whitehall' and I remember thinking, that's somewhere important so we got on. The ticket taker asked us where we were going. We looked at each other and looked back to the conductor and asked, "Where is this bus going?" Once we established that we were literally just off the plane and were generally clueless, we found out you paid by how far you went and that eventually we would end up at Whitehall (houses many government offices and official departments) and would be just a short walk from Parliament and Westminster Abbey. This was one of the first of many helpful and considerate Brits who helped us get around and answered our questions during our stay.
When it was time (Whitehall) the conductor told us it was our stop and wished us well. I remember walking past these buildings and thinking that this was an entirely different world from the U.S. - you could just FEEL the history. I remember thinking some of these buildings were here before our country was even established. I had that feeling many times as we walked around London.
I long to go back. So, today on such a joyous and hopeful occasion, with my own wonderful memories coming back to me, I wish both William and Kate a future of happiness and wonderful memories of their own.
