Love, honor and keep (the tiara)

I was going to ignore the royal wedding. I mean, I never got my invitation, so I was going to snub them back with the embarrassment of not being mentioned in my column, which would have been a huge scandal, and could have started a bit of royal sniping between the UK and the "colonies" again, possibly resulting in another teensy revolutionary war ... and I couldn't be responsible for that. So, here's to the happy couple!

To be honest, I wasn't all caught up in the preparatory details, as so many were. (Hey, if I'm not the one who gets to choose the dress and test-taste the cakes, then who cares?) But, I do love watching the finished product, when the bride walks down the aisle to her one-and-only, holding the arm of her sweating father, who's still muttering about the cost of the flowers "on the end of every damn pew!" And, I mostly love a good diamond tiara. So, I had to watch.

Plus, since it was almost Mother's Day, I had to "be there" for Diana.

As most of us probably do -- at least, most of us wedding-and-tiara-loving women do -- I remember all the hoopla with Charles and Diana's wedding. I dressed up my toddlers to watch it with me. They lasted all of four minutes ... well, one fell asleep, but the other lasted four minutes before reaching for her sleeping brother's chocolate cookie, and then alternating between eating and smashing it on her lilac taffeta dress, whereupon her brother woke up and began to howl at the loss of his cookie, and pulled the taffeta bow right off his sister's head, along with a little of her hair. This was followed by double howling, and, because I was missing all the particulars being reported on Diana's wedding dress -- triple howling.

This time around, my toddlers are grown. (Just for fun, I suggested that my daughter dress her own toddlers up for the big do, but she got wise pretty fast. Plus, she has the luxury of recording it all for later, which I didn't have back then, which is just another of the advantages I shunned in favor of food, shelter and clothing for my children ... sniff.)

Actually, I forgot about the wedding completely until Friday morning when I turned on "Good Morning America" as usual, to see the weather guy take a shot at getting anywhere close to the actual weather, which starts my day off with a smile -- good endorphins. But, instead of the weather guy, there were Will and Kate, listening to the final song of the ceremony, and getting ready to go to the room behind the altar where they would sign their marriage certificate, which is not as easy as it sounds when you have like five names. So, I set the DVR at that point, knowing that the whole thing would be repeated nonstop all day, and probably for a few days, and I'd eventually get to see her walk down the aisle to her prince. And, I did.

Wow. What a love story. And, what a pair of crazy-about-each-other kids. The sideways smiles, the teasing looks, the loving whispers. ... Kate's dress was beautiful, elegant -- perfect for her. And, Will looked like a handsome, royally grown-up young man. They both were poised, comfortable and confident -- hard to do at a wedding in the backyard, let alone in Westminster Abbey before a kind-of-intimidating Grandmother-in-Law, what with that whole Queen of England thing. (Although, I heard that Grandma gave her the tiara, which would make us BFFs in my book!)

I loved the walk back down the aisle together. I loved the carriage. (I was born to ride in a carriage, with horsemen on either side, as they did, waving and smiling and being all royal. I'm not sure what happened when I was born, but someone "royally" messed up!) And, I really loved the children in the wedding party, none of whom was anywhere near a chocolate cookie.

My favorite part, though, was that tender moment when my mother called and said, "Oh, she reminds me so much of you on your wedding day!" (Have I mentioned my mother's astute powers of observation in previous columns? Because I should have.) "Your hair was long and dark, and your dress was so much like hers! You were so beautiful! If only you'd picked the right prince, like she did." Huh. Mother giveth -- mother taketh away.

But, I'd only known my groom for about 15 minutes. These two have known each other for years. And, they're deeply, strongly, irretrievably head-over-heels. I have a feeling they're going to do just fine. Happy Mother's Day, Diana.

Vicki Wentz's column, which appears here on Sundays, is published in newspapers across the country. She is a high school teacher who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. Readers may contact her at vwentz@mindspring.com.