29th April 2011

On the 29th April 1945, according to my Mother, it snowed.

The weather for today, whilst threatening to be showery, is forecast to be better. In Genova the sun, it is promised, 'will have its hat on and is planning to come out and play'.

So I find myself, having tried to escape the wedding that has dominated the news for the past couple of weeks, leading a celebration for the marriage of  two young people, who appear to be very much in love.

I will be celebrating the occasion in Genova, with a short service in the English Church here, followed by an Apertivo jointly hosted between the Chiesa Anglican and the Consolato Britannico with a Toast to the Royal Couple proposed by the Honorary British Consul.

To confirm the six handshakes theory which originated in America and which states that every American is only six handshakes away from the President, I have met the Grooms Mother and his Father, on separate occasions and his Grandmother and Grandfather on the occasion of the Royal Maundy at Bradford and, if the Brides Mother was a member of the cabin crew on the British Airways flight to Boston in 1985, who knows? So in my case the odds have been reduced to a single handshake.

But, even so thinking of America,  I must admit to wishing that I was on Route 66 instead, as the song says:

.... if you ever plan to motor west
Just take my way that's the highway that's the best
Get your kicks on Route 66

 Because today also happens to be the day my 66th year begins and what could be better than heading West on that mythical highway on a Harley Davidson with the wind gently blowing back the years as you ride, a horseman of the gasoline age.

Instead I will be leading the prayers as, the invitation says, Presiedera and not for the first time.

I have attended lots of wedding over the years and they have all been happy occasions and I always felt pleased to be part of a special day for the couple and their families, even when the timing clashed with a FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Southampton, when the Bride's grandfather's 'hearing aid' turned out to be a portable radio tuned to the commentary.

I also have photographs of three very special weddings that I have attended and am always pleased to be reminded of the happy occasion and the pride that I felt as Father of the beautiful Brides.

I have a small clutch of wedding sermons and the one I use most often is about the promises that couple make,

'With my body I honour you, All that I am I give to you, And all that I have I share with you',

I am always amazed at the commitment implied by these words and the extraordinary depth of self giving that they imply. Marriage is a physical, economic and spiritual union, the single deepest commitment that any one of us is likely to make to another human being.

At a time when marriage is falling rapidly out of favour the good thing about this wedding is that it has put marriage and especially the commitment it demands back into the public discourse.

The commentariat have of course dined out on the strength of it for weeks and will continue to milk it for all the column inches it is worth for weeks to come. But you cannot blame the couple for that or for deciding to get married rather than elope and its particularly good that the Bride's uncle has made the news. 

So I suppose that I am hoping that the only showers today are showers of confetti, rose petals or rice and that the day passes off peacefully and I will raise a glass to toast the happy couple (Royally Happy even!).

But somewhere at the back of my mind will be a chorus of American songs, the gentle burble of the Harleys' exhaust and the thought of that litany of place names from Chicago to L.A. and the two thousand miles of american blacktop, diners, tumbleweed, desert and prairie.

After all what more could anyone ask for in their sixty sixth year than to live their life as though it were a soundtrack, after all isn't that's pretty much what I have been doing since those April showers in 1945?

Life is not a highway strewn with flowers,
Still it holds a goodly share of bliss,
When the sun gives way to April showers,
Here is the point you should never miss

Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.