There is the traditional countdown till Christmas which usually takes on its serious ticking about 45 days or so prior to the 25th of December. We are reminded on a daily basis how many days we have left to finish, or for some unlucky sot, days we have left to begin getting ready for the big celebration and festivities. Now, here in America, we are being treated to the daily countdown until the Royals wedding.
Unless you've been purposely avoiding news feeds of any kind, you are probably aware that William and Kate's wedding will be on April 29th of this year. At the moment I am writing this, the wedding will be in 39 days. So will my 55th birthday. It seems that now and forever more my birthday will be celebrated in the shadow of the wedding and anniversaries of the Royals. I will now become part of that self-sacrificing group of people who have long had to share their birthday and take a back seat to Christmas Day, Fourth of July, New Years Eve, 9/11, Halloween, their twin sister, or worse yet, one of the six belonging to Jon and Kate (plus 8).
But it is okay really. I feel like the Royals are family. Like Ellen, I am sure that if I were to dig up my family tree I would find that somewhere rooted deeply I have a royal connection in that distant cousin kind of way.
Even though I am a third generation American I do have some Welsh blood running through my veins. In a historical stone house somewhere in Wales, in the attic, I am sure there is a dust covered family photo album with pictures of my family members, along with, if not the Prince of Wales, then some of my family and the Jones. Possibly Catherine Zeta Jones family but I'd also settle for the family of Sir Thomas John Woodward, better know by his stage name as Tom Jones. Wales is a small country so I am certain that one of these has to be a twig on a branch on my family tree. If I do my homework, I might get an invite to the wedding, perhaps an invitation to a Hollywood movie premier, or if all else fails, front row seats at a Vegas showroom.
It's funny that as Americans, as young a country as we still are, and so proud to be Americans, we still ache to find our roots, to know where our ancestors originally came from. I guess this is in part due to the fact that it is one of the few things we can take grasp of, get cold hard answers to. And we like cold hard answers. There are too many of those other questions floating about that toy with our minds endlessly, like "Why am I here, Who am I, Where do we go when we die, Is that all there is, Is it buck or butt naked?" But where are ancestors came from is factual. It helps explain and understand ourselves a little better. The name Kimberly for example, English in origin, meaning; Glorious or noble leader. Of course, it is all starting to make sense to me now.
So I'm happy for William and Kate and at the same time feel a bit sorry for them, but I guess this is why marrying a prince requires a nine year engagement. Making sure you can hold up under the scrutiny, the pressure, with all eyes upon you, and not just your own countrymen, but the entire world.
I guess on the positive side of this birthday thing for me is that I now will always have somewhat of a distraction. I won't be so focused on myself, I'll be more engrossed in what designer Kate will be wearing to the anniversary party, are they still happy, and when can we expect their first child. The negative side is that for most of us as we age and get older we try to keep those birthdays at bay, not make a big thing out of each one, just let them quietly slip right by. They come up on you so fast, you can hardly keep up. It's like one of those games at the county fair, "Whack the mole", you barely take care of one and another pops up. But now I will always be well prepared in advance, thank goodness no more sneaking up on me, I'll have the countdown, the day by day, letting me know when April 29th is fast approaching.
Even though I am a third generation American I do have some Welsh blood running through my veins. In a historical stone house somewhere in Wales, in the attic, I am sure there is a dust covered family photo album with pictures of my family members, along with, if not the Prince of Wales, then some of my family and the Jones. Possibly Catherine Zeta Jones family but I'd also settle for the family of Sir Thomas John Woodward, better know by his stage name as Tom Jones. Wales is a small country so I am certain that one of these has to be a twig on a branch on my family tree. If I do my homework, I might get an invite to the wedding, perhaps an invitation to a Hollywood movie premier, or if all else fails, front row seats at a Vegas showroom.
It's funny that as Americans, as young a country as we still are, and so proud to be Americans, we still ache to find our roots, to know where our ancestors originally came from. I guess this is in part due to the fact that it is one of the few things we can take grasp of, get cold hard answers to. And we like cold hard answers. There are too many of those other questions floating about that toy with our minds endlessly, like "Why am I here, Who am I, Where do we go when we die, Is that all there is, Is it buck or butt naked?" But where are ancestors came from is factual. It helps explain and understand ourselves a little better. The name Kimberly for example, English in origin, meaning; Glorious or noble leader. Of course, it is all starting to make sense to me now.
So I'm happy for William and Kate and at the same time feel a bit sorry for them, but I guess this is why marrying a prince requires a nine year engagement. Making sure you can hold up under the scrutiny, the pressure, with all eyes upon you, and not just your own countrymen, but the entire world.
I guess on the positive side of this birthday thing for me is that I now will always have somewhat of a distraction. I won't be so focused on myself, I'll be more engrossed in what designer Kate will be wearing to the anniversary party, are they still happy, and when can we expect their first child. The negative side is that for most of us as we age and get older we try to keep those birthdays at bay, not make a big thing out of each one, just let them quietly slip right by. They come up on you so fast, you can hardly keep up. It's like one of those games at the county fair, "Whack the mole", you barely take care of one and another pops up. But now I will always be well prepared in advance, thank goodness no more sneaking up on me, I'll have the countdown, the day by day, letting me know when April 29th is fast approaching.
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