~tuesday tunes~ in my life

on the two year engage-aversary of my husband asking me to marry him, i thought a stroll down wedding memory lane, accompanied by a tune, would be just the thing.

johnny cash was the second musical artist rich told me he liked on our first date. the first was rusted root, and every other one since then has been met with enthusiastic agreement on my part, but… johnny cash. if there was one moment when i “knew” about rich, it would be hard for me to pin down, but by the time he was telling me about his love for johnny, if i hadn’t already “known,” it would have been a moment of that kind. knowing all the words to so many johnny cash songs was a matter of course for my brothers and i, as his cassette tapes lived in the aerostar minivan we rode around in as kids, as well as the green farm truck’s tape deck. a boy named sue, a burning ring of fire, water 4 feet high and rising, and a 49-50-51-52-53-54-55-56-57-58-59 automobile were integral parts of the soundtrack of my upbringing.

the song in my life appears on cash’s american 4 album, and rich and i had sung along to that, and to desperado together within the first month of our relationship. i think he took to heart the line from desperado, “you better let somebody love you before it’s too late.” he did let me love him, we kept falling in love, and from here on out, we know we are only going to love each other more…

as we were deciding on songs for the wedding, we easily chose our recessional song, and once we found rainbow love, it was a natural for the processional of our parents. the last song chosen took us a while, for my dad and i to walk in on, and maybe it was because it seemed like the most important one. we listened back to the stack of cd mixes i have made for rich over the years, roughly two per year (i often make one for our anniversary and another for when he goes to country fair). we finally got back to the very first one, mixed in june 2012, where among such favorites as neil young’s silver and gold, tom petty’s wildflowers, and the highwaymen singing true love travels on a gravel road, there was johnny cash’s solid baritone voice singing a beatles song. we knew as soon as we heard it again that it was the best way to sum up exactly what was going on here. the two of us, with our advanced age, full lives, children, and pasts; but also with a lot of work we’ve done enabling us to greet each other’s age, quirks, families, and histories with kindness. we are only going to appreciate and love each other more and more, the more of our lives we get to share.

photo credit to wedding boss, yes she really did it all! (the rest of the photos below are by my photographer-in-chief! who is also a good friend and with whom i stand shoulder to shoulder on saturdays selling veggies.)

this is when the song came on… dad helped me steady those emotions by coaching me on walking nice and slowly.

i am pretty sure this is when i was laughing because i realized i didn’t know the exact procedure for how i would unhitch from dad down at the trees, and i was picturing my dad, seasoned farmer that he is, making a wide turn and backing me in like a wagon.

“though i know i’ll never lose affection

for people and things that went before

i know i’ll often stop and think about them

in my life i love you more”

 

pancakes peeking in the distant corner of this photo are the type of thing i only got to see later from the wedding photos (and that also goes for where my own son was sitting in the crowd). i was looking in a very singular direction while i was taking this walk!

johnny and june have been mentioned a time or two on this blog, and an added layer of meaning in choosing this song for us was looking to our role models in the relationship category (not limited to famous people, but including our own parents and certain friends and family as well). this was a big theme we intended to celebrate on our wedding day. looking around us that day, thinking of those who’ve gone, and those who remain, appreciating the love they have given to us and have modeled for us, was a natural part of turning and looking at each other and saying, “there is no one compares with you.”

6 comments to ~tuesday tunes~ in my life

  • camp boss

    ahhhhh finally a nice wedding post….I have been looking forward to more of these for about….ohhh ummmm 11 months!!! πŸ˜‰ it was a beautiful wedding!! I’m glad you plan on being more and more in love with each other, cuz yall are a perfect match!! (even with an infamous outlaw relative)

  • absolutely beautiful! i love the raw emotion in the photos, and the rainbows of flowers on the tables!!!! the huge trees! i teared up a bit at the music choices. lovely post!

  • my comment didn’t show up! do you preview them before they are added? or did i just make a mistake? πŸ™‚ anyway, i said that i love all of the emotion captured in the pictures, and the rainbows on the tables!!!! so sweet!!! the music choices are lovely! definitely made me tear up! the music is soooooo important! glad to finally see this post!!

    • hey jenny!
      my comment settings are that they show up automatically if the commenter has already had approved comments… it looked like you used jenny newell instead of just jenny the first time, so it had me approve it, which i just did, so it should show up now. πŸ™‚
      and thank you for taking the time to comment in the first place, it is always so sweet to read your responses. hope you have a great day!
      mb

  • i guess i just made a mistake πŸ˜‰

  • Holly Fugate

    After reading this and remembering your wedding with a smile and a little tear (your wedding was so memorable and wonderful), I hummed the tune of your song. Adam, who after hearing that song at your wedding played it over and over for months, caught the tune and began looping it on his phone while he cleaned the garage. The song, the love and relationships at your wedding, the colors, a certain saint, and my own love for my husband as our relationship deepens and stretches are all wrapped up in Johnny’s sultry rendition of your special song. πŸ™‚

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