"You're on fire!" a woman shrieked, as she began batting at Peter's coat.
Peter and I went to his cousin Brent's wedding last weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was a lovely wedding at a yacht club (no yachts) overlooking a river (I'm not sure why it was called a yacht club). The bride and groom were radiant and very stylish, and we were so happy to be there, joining Peter's family for the big event. As our big kids were sunning at home with Mimi and Papa, we were having a second honeymoon with just one baby, and some rain!
The rain began shortly before the wedding, and stopped just in time for the ceremony on the outdoor deck. As soon as the vows were exchanged, the showers resumed, and when we were dismissed, we all headed indoors for shelter. The yacht club was very cozy - for 30 people. But I understand there were more like 190 people there and we were like sardines inside a can.
There were softly lit candles all around the room, the ambience of which was in direct contrast to the amount of volume inside the club. Everyone was shouting to be heard. Caleb's crying wasn't even audible unless you were right next to him.
Then I hear a woman yelling about fire. My heart dropped into my stomach when I turned to see large flames shooting up Peter's back. Peter spun around to see where the fire is. He had been standing (apparently) a little too close to an ill-placed votive candle. Fortunately, a quick-thinking woman had the flames extinguished before Peter even realized she was referring to him. The fire caught his coat in the small of his back where his sport coat was furthest away from his body. His dress shirt was blackened, but his undershirt was completely undamaged. Peter was calm. It had been taken care of before he was made aware of it. I was completely unnerved. I couldn't stop hugging him. I just wanted to cry! There is nothing like seeing someone you love so entirely on fire!
The place was so packed that I'm not even sure how many people were aware of the commotion, so Peter and I slipped out and quietly put his coat in the car. No sense in wearing a coat with a softball sized burnt hole in it, right? Besides, it smelled awful from the smoke.
So we went to the reception - also outside but underneath a lovely pavillion. I was shaking still, so Peter was trying to calm me down. We sat down at our table and a waitress walked behind us carrying bottles of wine. She then tripped on a root or something in the grass and dropped a wine bottle, which promptly sprayed up a large portion of its contents - all over Peter's shirt. He was soaked and now with a new stinky. We looked at each other in amazement. Who would ever believe this? All we could do was sit back and laugh and blurt out at the same time - it will make a great story for the blog.
4 comments:
I think her actual words were, "You're burning!" The reason I think this is because I heard that very close behind me (and very loud) and I thought she said "you're Bernie" and when I realized she was speaking to me, I turned around calmly to tell her that she was mistaken, my name is Peter, not Bernie. Then she started batting at my coat. At some point within the next second, I realized she was trying to put out a fire that was on my coat. Ah, well, I guess I needed a new sports coat anyway. (I think I've had this one since I was about 15.)
Oh my goodness!!!!!! I can't believe THIS!! Wow. I'm glad Peter is okay. You guys are going to have many laughs, at many different Thanksgiving dinners, throughout the years, because of this!!!!!!
That's hilarious!! It sounds like God's trying to tell Peter he needs some new clothes. :)
Thanks for sharing this story, we all got a good laugh! Poor Peter, what did he do that day?? I love the Bernie part. We are just getting around to checking out the story after the reference in your Christmas letter. Love, The Mahoneys (sorry this is our only blog)
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