Tag: Weddings

Big secret blown up

On By Naty MatosIn Articles3 Comments

Today’s WordPress prompt was, “What is the biggest secret you failed to keep? I had to think long and hard about this one as my regular line of work and most of my ministry work is surrounded by confidentiality clauses and agreements; therefore there’s not much that I have revealed in terms of secrets. I also don’t tend to divulge secrets anyway so it took me a while, but then a light went off on the personal realm the one I found was life changing.

 It is customary for most churches to require a pre-marital course for couples. I attended to one of these when it was my “bridal time” and met two other couples preparing for their nuptials with whom we became very close. We became so close that after the course we started helping each other in the wedding preparations. My wedding was the one in the middle of the other two.

We attended the first wedding and after that, the now wife and the wife to be became my little helpers. The grooms became friends and tended to hang out together when we girls were submerged in lace and flowers. As we were very focused on our tasks we had not noticed that the third groom (the one whose wedding was right after mine) had developed a certain affection for one of my neighbors, so every time it was time to come over to my place for my wedding things he was quite eager.

This neighbor was my lifetime friend and at some point told me about the handsome guy who was visiting my house and inviting her out. I quickly pointed out to her that the lady with him was nobody else but his fiancée. I was in a predicament. If I told my new friend about what her fiancé had done I was going to break her heart and probably cancel her wedding, but at the same time I would have been devastated if I would have allowed her to marry a cheater. So I did, I called the girl and told her about her groom and my neighbor.

The fun part was that the ladies got together and plotted a plan. My neighbor accepted the date, but instead of one, both women showed up. The soon to be married lady and I did not keep a relationship, but she said she was grateful for the revelation. As painful as this was, I really don’t regret doing it as I would have appreciated if anyone would have done it for me if it was me the one being cheated on.

In retrospective, nobody was asked to keep it a secret, but it was information that I knew that the affected person didn’t have. People forget that what’s done in the dark always comes to light. That it’s important to do the right thing, just because is the right thing to do. It usually is a good assistance to a good night sleep and I love my sleep.

Blessings!

Books and Wedding Cakes

On By Naty MatosIn Writing Happenings1 Comment
 
Here you can see grandma's pearls.

Every bride has a dream about a fabulous wedding cake when they are planning their perfect day. At a time when I was a bride I had my dreams too. I had envisioned every part of that cake, from the flavor, the shape, the colors, the little pearls that I fell in love with because it was the only job that the baker’s grandma did for her. They were not even offered to me and were not part of my original design, but once I saw the sweet old lady sitting in a corner doing those sugar pearls and the excitement with which she sat me down to show me what she was doing, if nothing else my cake was going to have some grandma’s pearls.

When I arrived at the place where the wedding was going to be held, the baker had just arrived. You know how there are things that you see in your head that can’t be translated in real life? She did. The image of my cake was exactly what was delivered and I jumped to hug her.

As happy as I was that day, I didn’t appreciate all her hard work until a year later when yours truly decided to take cake decorating classes and made a few wedding cakes herself. The planning, the designing, the roses that broke, the cakes that fell, the late nights and a whole memorial weekend doing fondant flowers to make them as real as possible. I then felt bad for grandma and how many hours of work I had gotten out of the poor woman wanting my precious pearls.

This is the cover I remember from that first book

The same has happened with me and writing. My first book was “Mary Poppins”; I must have been around five years old. It was the first from a bookclub that my late sister had enrolled me in. She loved to read and left that legacy with me. I’ve always loved writing and reading, but I guess it wasn’t until now that I’ve written a few drafts with the dream of publishing that I’ve moved to a different level in their appreciation.

I was roaming through a bookstore today while my glasses were being repaired next door. That’s a good thing; otherwise I would have ended buying half of the store. Getting very close to the books (remember no glasses) I was able to recognize some of the renown names in fiction, literature, romance…and the few people who have written a book after their fifteen minutes of fame on television.

I saw some people leaving the bookstore empty handed and my heart sunk. I wanted to say, “Can’t you just take one? Some are really inexpensive and they are running a sale. Do you have the slightest idea of how much work goes into one of these? Sure you read it in two days and throw it in a corner.  Their authors sweated blood and tears for it. They were rejected ten times until someone decided to give it a second look. While you’re here at the mall, this author is in his or her dungeon trying to birth another creation. So just take one home”

Of course I didn’t say any of this; otherwise instead of writing this post, I would be in the padded room with the white coat. As a writer and a reader, I have a new appreciation for books than ever before. So to all writers out there…Thank You for your sacrifice to teach, inspire, entertain and motivate us. Readers thanks for supporting your favorite authors. Well and thanks to good bakers too!