Three Weddings and NO Funerals: Part Two

Her grandmom had a place at the seashore, right on the beach, I believe. And her family used to go there in the summer when she was a kid. They became friendly with other families who had shore houses in that block, and one of the families had a son Stephanie's age. His name was Justin. He was kind of shy.

As they grew into teen years, she grew beautiful. I mean really beautiful (to the point that I wondered why she never pursued a career in modelling) and Justin grew smitten. The story is that it used to be when he was coming up onto the beach out of the water he developed the habit of looking at the deck next door to see if Stephanie was there. Sometimes she was. Sometimes she wasn't. Oh, Justin was smitten. But since he was shy, Stephanie never knew. She thought he was just one of the guys in the shore crowd.

The kids grew up and got summer jobs and spent less time at grandmom's shore house. Stephanie went off to college and met a guy and had a little girl and then the thing with the guy went kaput. There were some hard times for Stephanie and her family as they dealt with all kinds of difficult situations. Then, it seems, summer before last they took some extended time at the shore house. The seaside worked its magic in more ways than they'd expected.

For one day, coming out of the water, Justin's old teen-aged habit kicked in. He glanced at the deck. And after all this time, there was Stephanie. No longer shy, he went over . . . .

The wedding is this September. At the church at the shore, of course. With a pig roast on the beach afterwards. With the little girl in the wedding party.

All of this was revealed to the Good Guys last winter while I was working on Porcelainberry, The Quilt. (You may remember that we'd discovered porcelainberries on a guided dune walk down at the beach many years back -- probably around the time that Justin was first enamored with Stephanie, actually -- they grow among the reeds and the sedges and you have to kind of peer under the leaves at them. And then you see them -- how very beautiful they are.) I'd been aimlessly making blocks from batik strips I'd acquired through a swap, putting them together in combinations I fancied. And Joe came by and said, "That looks like porcelainberries!" He was right.

And as Stephanie's mom was sharing the story with us, I kept thinking about the quilt on my design wall at home, and knowing exactly where it was destined to go.

Be happy together, young friends. You surely deserve it.


Comments

Karen said…
What a delightful love story and quilt. Thanks for sharing
Pat said…
Sometimes the colors of nature provide the very best inspiration. Your husband was right -- that quilt really reflects those berries AND the story of your young friends' love. Beautiful.
kdmade said…
This quilt is fantastic.
LoieJ said…
Wonderful. Yes, I agree with PattiCakes, I often see combinations in nature that I wouldn't otherwise think to put together.
Anya said…
Lovely story and lovely quilt to go with it.
Nancy said…
This is the stuff that movies are made of..... what a neat story.

Hugs,
Nancy
Susan said…
What a beautiful story and what a gorgeous quilt!
Gretchen said…
What a sweet story and the perfect quilt to go with it.
Unknown said…
Sometimes, if you're lucky, life throws a second chance at you - no-one knows that better than me - I'm glad his shyness had been outgrown - it sounds like they're grasping that second chance with all four hands - good luck to the both of them :o)
Nicole said…
Awesome story. One of those things that was meant to be. I wish the young couple all sorts of wonderful blessings and happiness.
Laurie said…
Ooh, I was looking forward to seeing what you did with this after I saw the original photo. These are SO my colord. Love the quilt, and I know they will too!
quiltmom anna said…
What a gorgeous quilt Nancy and what a special story of these two young people. May they have a long and happy marriage.
I love the batiks- the colors are really rich.
Regards,
Anna
Diana said…
Lovely story to go with a lovely quilt. I had never heard of Porcelainberries before, but I love those soft pastels.
AnnieO said…
Love a happy ending! And there's nothing happier than some quilty love for the new couple. Porcelainberries is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous!
Gari in AL said…
What a wonderful story to go with a beautiful quilt.
suz said…
That was the loveliest story! I think the quilt will be a perfect gift for this couple. Thank you for sharing both.
Gorgeous, both the story and the quilt. I so love the colors.
Micki said…
What a lovely story and quilt! I throughly enjoyed it all!
Micki
Tanya said…
Your quilts are wonderful and so are your story telling skills. Both Emily's quilt and Stephanie's are wonderful representations of your love for them and your knowlege of their love of beautiful things (each so different!) Congratulations on two beautiful quilts!
Louise said…
I've never heard of porcelain berries before. Your quilt captured the beauty of nature. Great love story, too.
Louise