Celebrations, but Alongside Disappointments

A few weeks ago, still dazed by the surprise, I described the remarkable circumstances that had led to the discovery of my second cousin's fiancée.  On that occasion the main topic of conversation was the detail of his relationship to me, partly in order to establish my own bona fides, and to convince this lady that I was no ordinary 'stage door lounger'.  Consequently I came away knowing very little about her other than her name.

Last Saturday was their wedding day.  I hadn't expected an invitation on the strength of nothing more than that encounter, and so had gone to watch an FA Vase tie at Ely, where the local team were playing Norwich United, a club that has fascinated me ever since I first learned of their existence some eight years ago.  I'd never seen them play, but as a Norfolk boy myself, I was hoping they would win.  Amidst groans from the home fans, they scored the first goal and were 2-1 up at the interval.  Ely then scored again after the break, making the scores equal after 90 minutes and extra time was called for, during which three more goals left the home team 4-3 winners.

I returned home to restore my spirits by taking advantage of arrangements that had been made to stream the wedding on Facebook.  Thanks to the consideration of a musical couple who were well aware that there would be many friends and relatives for whom distance and/or space in the hall would preclude attendance, I was able to sit in rapt enjoyment, a virtual fly-on-the-wall for an hour-and-a-half, absorbing and vicariously sharing the happiness of their afternoon.  Little did I know that more delight was even then being prepared.

All that I had been able to glean about the bride from the internet since our encounter had been purely speculative.  On Monday and Tuesday, Facebook carried a number of individual collections of photos from the nuptials and, from the various comments on the pictures, I was able to confirm some of my findings and refute others, and to build up sufficient detail to enable me with confidence to add her to my family tree records.  I had been quite amazed by the streaming of the wedding ceremony; on Monday I discovered that the same means had been used to provide a couple of hours viewing of an entertainment that this enterprising couple had devised for the Saturday evening!  Some of the photos also revealed the ritual disfigurement of the going-away vehicle, which had required some cleansing activity to make it legal to drive!

On Tuesday evening, football once more took pride of place in my activities. Ten days before, I had been at an FA Cup match that had had to be abandoned after 58 minutes (with my favoured team 3-2 ahead) because of serious injuries to two of the visiting players.  This Tuesday saw the re-match, which started off well, but the strength of the opposition was too much and I left after watching a 5-3 demolition of the locals' Cup hopes.

All was not lost, excitement-wise, however, for there was more celebration to come last night, when our church saw the installation of the lady who is now (I almost wrote 'to be', which has been the case since her selection some months ago now, and has become habitual) our new Vicar.  Although her authority takes effect at a specific moment - like when at a wedding the priest says, 'you are man and wife' - she has been 'on the scene' for a few weeks since moving into the vicarage.  During this time the family have been settling in and undergoing the same transitions that anyone does on moving house.  Meanwhile, there has been infrequent, informal contact with key people in the church in order to make various necessary arrangements.  In no way did this detract from the sense of occasion when the Bishop proclaimed, 'You have a new vicar!' and the clapping, cheering and whooping would have rivalled that at many a stadium to greet a winning goal!

Sadly winning goals didn't figure in my diary this week, but there has been more than adequate compensation!