The limp of the Irish

I was concerned about housing so many guests during Cassie and Pat's wedding. After all, a half-renovated house with two bedrooms, one bathroom and no kitchen is just not equipped to sleep 8 people comfortably. But since the groom's family was arriving a few days early to help with the setup, and because all the nearby hotels were booked for a college graduation, we made it work so that Patrick's entourage could stay close to the wedding site. (S and I opted for the hotel room instead, which was great because it put him closer to work, and I got a chance to work outside the house for a change.)

Thanks to air mattresses, our really big couch and a large supply of snacks, our guests said they were very comfortable during their Thursday to Sunday stay. The only real issue was our lack of stair railing at the back door, which is currently our main entrance:

This was actually more of a problem than anyone could have anticipated. You see, the groom's brother had foot surgery a few weeks ago, so he arrived on crutches. Oops #1.Then, an aunt turned her ankle shortly after arriving and hobbled around for most of the trip, using that walking stick in the photo for support. Oops #2. Then, the morning of the wedding, 6-year-old Mikaela had an incident with the golf cart and strained a ligament in her ankle. They were dropping like flies! And of course we had no railing to help these poor wounded souls get in and out of our house. Oops oops oops.

But we all laughed about it in the end, when we received the sweet gift that our guests had brought us all the way from Chicago. Their family has very deep Irish roots and the wedding had lots of Irish flair, so they gifted us with a framed Irish blessing -- which they had chosen long before the events of the trip unfolded. We laughed so hard when we opened it that we almost couldn't breathe.

"May those who love us love us;
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn the ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping."

I'd have maybe preferred a pot of gold, but a good laugh (and a little wonderment at the coincidence!) was almost just as good.